Love Comes in All Shapes and Sizes
by CrazyApplesandOranges
Summary: Kakashi has been tasked with being a father to three orphans-the future Team 7, to be exact. With the help of Tsume Inuzuka, he will learn how to be a father to these three, and what the true meaning of love is.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This idea just randomly popped into my head, and even though it seems kinda serious at first, it isn't. It is pure humor. And as for why it's Tsume and not someone else . . .well, you don't see a lot of her, and she's not that much older than Kakashi, so why not? Besides, I don't really know where this story is going anyway.

"No," Kakashi said, backing away from the Third Hokage, from the three crying babies next to the old man. "I cannot do this."

Sarutobi sighed, observing the demolished village through the wide window. "Kakashi, you have to do it. You are the only one who _can_ do it. You happened to know all of their families—and you were there when all three of them were born."

"Hokage-sama, I'm not cut out for this! I don't have anyone to go off of; I wouldn't know what I was doing!" Kakashi argued, vainly trying to block out the sounds of crying from the three orphans.

"Kakashi," Sarutobi said, turning to smile at the young man. "You can do this. Sakumo was a great father, and Minato taught you everything you would ever need to know about this. And, I've assigned someone to help you. Tsume!" he called.

Tsume Inuzuka trudged into the room, a baby cradled in her arms, her daughter trailing behind her. "I'm here. What do you need, Sarutobi?"

Sarutobi glanced sharply at her, while Kakashi gawked at the woman in front of him, horrified.

"I have a mission for you. Teach Kakashi all he needs to know about being a parent." The Hokage said.

"I'm nineteen!" Kakashi interrupted. Sarutobi ignored him.

"Why do I have to do it?" Tsume questioned, shifting the baby in her arms. "There are plenty of other women who can do it."

"Because you are a wonderful mother, and you can teach him better through demonstration with little Kiba." Sarutobi answered choosing not to see that Kakashi was waving his arms in the air trying to get his attention.

Kakashi gave up when the ANBU stationed outside the window—he thought he knew him, even though he was wearing the mask—looked at him with steely green eyes. The Hokage was not going to listen to him, no matter what he said or did.

Tsume gazed down at her children for a long moment, and then shrugged, glancing back up at the old man. "Why not? This could be fun."

Kakashi clamped a hand over his mouth to keep from blurting anything that would get him into trouble, and hesitantly took the baby Sarutobi handed him. He had gotten the blonde, who he knew was Minato-sensei's kid, and the dark-haired Uchiha went to Tsume. She adjusted Kiba in her arms so that she could hold both of them with no difficulty. The pale-haired Sakura Haruno was given to a young Hana, and she carefully held Sakura the way she had seen her mother hold her brother.

"Oh! Before I forget, how is Isamu?" Sarutobi wondered, finally sitting down in his chair.

Tsume growled low in her throat, surprising all four babies into startled silence. "Don't mention that coward's name to me. He ran away again! I swear, if he comes near me again, I'm gonna murder him! Courage, my ass . . . he should have been named Hitoshi (1)!"

Sarutobi smiled gently at her. "I'm sure he had very good reason to leave, Tsume."

She snorted. "Whatever. Come on, kid." She said to Kakashi, who nearly dropped Naruto in surprise. "You're coming with me."

/

You know that feeling you get when you first hold your new-born son or daughter?

Yeah, Kakashi didn't have that feeling. And there were two reasons why: one, he wasn't even related to the three kids—well, in a way, if you think about it, Sasuke sort of was, but only through his eye. Obito was like, a cousin to Sasuke, so that would mean Kakashi's Sharingan eye would be related to Sasuke. But that was too complicated for even Kakashi to understand, so on to the second reason: he had never really wanted kids.

Because he didn't really have anyone close to him anymore—Rin had died years ago, Obito was gone; Minato-sensei and Kushina were all dead—he had mostly focused on missions. Missions to help the village, missions to stop the war, you name it, he had done it. Therefore, he hadn't been thinking much about his future, and now he was paying the price.

Tsume was completely fine with having three extra kids in her house, plus Kakashi. She was acting like this was completely normal, and frankly, it was freaking Kakashi out.

The young man didn't know what to do, so he stood awkwardly by the wall until Tsume glanced back at him.

"Oh, don't stand there like an idiot." She scolded him, arranging blankets on the floor with Hana's help. "Bring the children over here."

Kakashi handed her Sasuke, who was sound asleep, and then Sakura and Naruto, who were cooing quietly to each other, like they were having a conversation. Kakashi didn't know if that was possible—Naruto was five days old, for God's sake!—so he dismissed it and stood in the corner while he waited for more directions.

"Oh my God, if you're just going to stand there like an idiot without doing anything, at least go back to your apartment and pack a bag." Tsume ordered. "You're staying in the guest bedroom."

Kakashi was halfway out the door before he registered what she had said, and turned back around to stare at her. "Excuse me?"

"What?" Tsume asked, not looking up from the children. "Did you really think I was going to let you go home with three children when you have no idea what you're doing?"

Kakashi sighed. "I guess I should have seen this coming."

He turned around and trudged out of the house to his apartment.

The moment he was out of sight Tsume turned to her daughter. "Hana, go clean the guest room quickly."

Hana was two steps ahead of her mother, already hurrying up the stairs.

A/N: Finally finished. I love reviews, and if you would leave me one, I might update faster if you like the story.

(1): Isamu means courage, and Hitoshi means motivated person. What Tsume is saying that because Isamu left her, again, that he wasn't brave, but he was a very motivated person in the way that he was motivated to leave her. Does that make sense?


	2. Chapter 2

Kakashi woke up to miserable crying—from what seemed like everywhere. Apparently when you have four babies in one house it's impossible to get sleep.

"Tsume," Kakashi groaned, rolling over in an attempt to get away from the noise. Unfortunately, he forgot that he had fallen asleep on the couch, so he fell onto the floor. "OW!"

"Tsume," he whined, rubbing his sore arm. He knew that she had fallen asleep in the arm chair. So where was she? "Make them be quiet."

"Kakashi!" Tsume's sharp voice cut through the thick fog that his mind had fallen into. He blinked, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness. When he finally located the Inuzuka, she was glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

"Get Sakura," she ordered, bouncing a child up and down in her arms gently. Kakashi couldn't tell which one it was. Tsume nodded up the stairs. "She's in Hana's room."

The masked shinobi muttered to himself as he dragged himself up the stairs. Why, why did the Third Hokage think he was the one to take care of these kids? He could barely take care of himself most of the time!

He looked down the hall and tried to find Hana's room. Why were there so many doors?

"Hmmm . . ." he hummed absently. "My room is there, and that's Tsume's . . . I think. So maybe…"

He opened the door closest to him, expecting to find a bedroom, but what he found was the bathroom. _Well,_ he thought, _at least I know where the bathroom is._

He continued down the hall, opening door after door—okay, so there wasn't actually a lot of doors, it just seemed like that to a half-asleep Kakashi. When he finally found the six-year-olds room, he was close to falling asleep again.

The gray-haired ninja could hear Sakura whining behind the closed door, and Hana's soothing voice singing to the baby quietly. It didn't seem like it was doing much, but Kakashi wasn't sure. He wasn't exactly an expert here.

He pushed the door open quietly, half expecting for a dog to jump at him—you never could tell with the Inuzuka's—so when he wasn't attacked, he sighed in relief. He glanced around the room quickly, trying to find the two girls in the dim light, and he finally found them near the window. The moon provided just enough light to for him to get across the floor to Hana, and he smiled—which was only indicated by the curve of his eye—and held out his arms to take Sakura.

The young girl smiled gratefully—she needed her sleep, she had things to do tomorrow!—and handed her over to the Hatake. He adjusted his arms so that Sakura would be comfortable, and then made his way back to the door, closing it behind him silently.

He walked back downstairs in the dark, not bothering to find a light switch, trying vainly to quiet the baby in his arms. "Here," he said to Tsume, holding out Sakura. The Inuzuka glared at him, rocking both Kiba and Naruto in her arms. How she did that, Kakashi would probably never know.

"Does it look like I can hold her?" she hissed. He shrugged.

"Maybe?"

"Wrong answer," Tsume muttered, but she didn't dare try to yell for fear of making the situation worse. She didn't even know where Sasuke was.

"Turn some lights on or something," she said. "We need to find Sasuke. Who knows what he's gotten into. . ." she trailed off uncertainly, not sure what he could actually get into. "Oh, God…"

Kakashi turned back around with a sigh, planning to search on the first floor before going upstairs. "Sasuke," he called softly. "Where are you?"

There was a soft cooing sound from his right, and he sighed in relief when he turned to find it was the dark-haired Uchiha. Sasuke was sitting in the kitchen, petting Tsume's nin-dog, Kuromaru. The massive dog was growling low in his throat, eyes closed while Sasuke ran his through his dark fur. Kuromaru opened his eyes to stare at Kakashi.

"Can you watch him for a while?" Kakashi asked, wondering if maybe he could take care of Sakura before Sasuke. The Uchiha seemed fine, and if Kuromaru agreed, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

The dog bowed his head slightly, shifting to glance at Sasuke.

"Thanks," Kakashi said, turning to walk back to Tsume.

The Inuzuka was still trying to quiet Naruto, while Kiba was playing with one of the family dogs—or well, not really. The baby was lying on the ground while the small dog pranced around him. Kakashi half expected the dog to step on Kiba, but Tsume didn't have a problem with it, so he figured it was okay.

"Where's Sasuke?" Tsume asked suspiciously.

"Kuromaru's watching him."Kakashi answered, sitting down on the couch. "What should I do with Sakura?"

Tsume shrugged. "Check her diaper; maybe she needs to be changed. I know Kiba did."

Kakashi sighed, but resigned himself to his fate. He was going to have to do it sooner or later. He set Sakura down on the floor, carefully peeling her clothes off her and dropping them to the side. He wrinkled his nose when he saw—and smelled—that she did in fact need to be changed.

"Tsume," he called uncertainly. "How do I change a diaper?"

A/N: Hehe. I love torturing Kakashi. It's so fun. Anyways, tell me what you think, and if you want me to add another chapter. I might find time in my busy schedule to type up something. The only reason I was able to type this chapter was because I ran out of things to do.


	3. Chapter 3

"Tsume," Kakashi called uncertainly. "How do I change a diaper?"

Tsume glanced at him sharply, but didn't say anything while she quieted Naruto. The baby was hardly a week old and already he was causing all kinds of trouble. She set him down next to Kiba, who giggled and accidently hit the other baby.

With her arms now free, Tsume put her hands on her hips, glaring at Kakashi. "I'm not showing you. You have to do it by yourself."

"But-"Kakashi protested.

"You're a smart boy. I'm sure you'll figure it out." Then Tsume was gone, off to find Sasuke.

Kakashi whined quietly to himself, then grabbed a clean diaper off the table next to him. He stripped Sakura of the spoiled diaper, wrapping it up thoroughly in tissues just so he could touch it, and cleaned her off. Then he stared at the fresh diaper and tried to figure out how to put it on Sakura.

He groaned, glancing around the room. His eye lighted upon Naruto and Kiba, and he smiled under his mask.

He picked Kiba up, depositing him next to Sakura and pulling his clothes off, too. He studied the diaper on the four-month-old's lower body. Then he carefully copied the same things on Sakura.

When he was done, he gazed at the two babies, and smiled in satisfaction when Sakura's diaper looked just as good as Kiba's. He put their clothes back on and set him down next to Naruto, Sakura following soon after.

He whistled quietly to himself as he waited for Tsume to come back with Sasuke. When she did come back, she glared suspiciously at the younger ninja, wondering what he had done. People just didn't whistle like that unless they were guilty.

"What did you do?" she asked, ignoring the puppy dancing at her feet. Kasumi was even more excited than usual, and Tsume could just tell it was because of something Kakashi had done.

"I didn't do anything," Kakashi said innocently, but his eye curved up in that famous smile of his, and the Inuzuka could easily see that he was smiling, even through the mask.

"Uh-huh, of course you did," Tsume said.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Whatever."

Tsume studied each and every one of the children lying on the floor in front of her, trying to see if anything was out of place. Her eyes noticed something, something so small that most people wouldn't notice if it wasn't their child.

But this was Kiba. Her _son_. She noticed these things when it came to her children.

"Kakashi," she growled low in her throat. The masked shinobi shrank back into the wall he was leaning against. "What happened to Kiba's socks?"

"Uh…" Kakashi scratched the back of his head guiltily, his one visible eye flicking in between the irate Inuzuka, who was snarling at him, and the two white socks peeking out from under the couch. He must have accidently kicked them under there when he moved or something.

"I…uh…he kicked them off?"

"And where are they?"

"China?"

"KAKASHI!"

Tsume threw herself at him, hands reaching for his throat. Kakashi had forgotten how angry the woman could be. The first time he had met her, he had accidently said that Kuromaru looked like a... well, he couldn't remember what it was. But he was stuck in the hospital for a week.

"T-Tsume," Kakashi pleaded. "Don't kill me!"

Tsume paused, a thoughtful look on her face, and she dropped her hands. She cocked her head at him, gazing at him with unreadable hazel eyes. Then a slow smile stretched across her face, and the gray-haired teen cowered behind the puppy that had pranced in front of him.

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you," she decided, head still tilted to the side. "I've got something much worse than your death."

"Oh, Kami…"

"Kakashi, you now have to do housework as your rent."

"NOO!"

A/N: God, I was laughing so hard when I wrote this. This is just something I can imagine Kakashi doing, and it makes me laugh every time I think of it.


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi washed the dishes with a scowl on his face, his mask having become too wet to wear. That didn't mean he was relaxed—oh, no. He was tense, watching out for any sign of Tsume, just in case she had a camera and decided that she would take a picture and use it as blackmail.

"Kakashi," Tsume called from the sitting room. "I need your help."

Kakashi wiped his hands on a dish towel as he stalked into the room Tsume was in, still scowling. "What?"

"Can you get Naruto and Sasuke? I think they're over by the couch." She said, frantically trying to get both Sakura and Kiba to sleep.

"I could. But you didn't ask very nicely." He said, tying the towel through his belt loop. He leaned against the door side.

"Please," Tsume nearly snarled. "Please, can you get Naruto and Sasuke?"

"Much better."

Kakashi strode over to the couch, and just like Tsume said, the two were behind the couch. How they got there, Kakashi didn't know, but he would go with it. He didn't want to have to make Tsume madder than she already was.

"Okay," he said, picking the two babies up. "What do you want me to do now?"

"Try to get them to sleep," the Inuzuka said, watching as Kiba and Sakura's eyes drooped. "It's late, and we all need our sleep, especially them."

Kakashi rocked both babies back and forth in his arms, trying desperately to do what Tsume said. When Naruto yawned, and Sasuke curled up further into the warmth of his body, the shinobi carefully stood up, glancing at Tsume to see that she had done the same thing.

As one they turned to the stairs, going up and finding the nursery in the darkness. Tsume placed Kiba in his crib, turning to go into Hana's room and do the same with Sakura.

By the time she came back, Kakashi had gotten Sasuke to fall asleep but Naruto refused.

"Come on, Naruto." He whispered, stroking the baby's soft, whiskered cheek. "Go to sleep. Let me and Tsume sleep."

The blonde's eyes slipped closed, then immediately opened again. Blue eyes exactly like Kakashi's sensei's stared up at him, squirming on the mattress.

Tsume came over, rocking Kiba, who had started crying the second his mother had left the room. "Try singing," she suggested. "That worked yesterday when you went out to get the groceries."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Have you heard my singing?"

She shrugged. "Babies don't really care what you sound like. As long as it's quiet and soothing you'll be fine."

He sighed. "Okay. I guess."

Kakashi searched his mind for anything that could resemble a lullaby, but couldn't come up with any. He didn't really remember his mother, and his father had never sung to him. Sakumo had stayed by his side until he fell asleep, or made room in his bed when he had a nightmare, but never sang.

"Uhhh… Tsume?" Kakashi said.

"Hmm?"

"I don't know any lullabies."

She thought a moment, then smiled. "Fine, I'll help you. But just this once."

Tsume stepped closer to Kakashi, standing at his side to gaze down at Naruto. "Rock-a bye baby, in the tree top,"

Kakashi smiled, even though he should be mad that he still had to ask the older woman for help with the kids. Tsume's voice was clear and sweet, high and beautiful, unlike her usual voice. He kind of liked it. And he knew that if he ever got married, he would want his wife to be as beautiful a singer as Tsume.

"When the wind blows, the cradle will rock,"

Naruto's eyes were drooping, and when Kakashi glanced at Kiba, his were too.

"When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and down will come baby, cradle and all," Tsume finished, smiling gently at the two babies.

Kakashi couldn't help but lean closer and marvel at the fact that Naruto was now asleep. Tsume placed Kiba back in his crib, as he was now asleep, and Kakashi straightened. He had a few questions to ask her, and he had learned that when they were surrounded by sleeping kids, Tsume was much nicer. She really was a natural mother.

"Tsume," he said. She turned her head to stare at him, already halfway towards the door.

"Yes?"

"Why did you really take this mission?" he asked. Tsume bit her lip and stared at the floor, trying to avoid the question but knowing she couldn't.

"Because," she said slowly. "I knew your father. I was only twelve when he died, but he had helped me once. I was training when I was maybe ten, and I was having trouble with Kuromaru. Your father came along and helped me, and now Kuromaru and I are best friends. That wouldn't have happened if it weren't for him.

"Besides," she continued, brightening slightly. "I like you. You are the only person I've ever met that isn't afraid to speak their mind around me. I respect that. Plus, it was clear you had no experience at all with children."

"Thank you," Kakashi said. Tsume frowned.

"For what?" she asked.

"For everything. For telling the truth, helping me. You're right; I didn't have any experience with kids. You probably saved their lives." He said.

"Well, you're welcome." She said, finally getting to the door and opening it; she stepped outside and tripped over the toy sitting on the floor. Kakashi rushed forward to catch her before she fell down the stairs—it wouldn't do to have Tsume in the hospital while he was stuck with the kids.

"Thanks," she panted, the adrenaline running through her system from her almost-fall fading. "You saved me,"

Tsume twisted around in Kakashi's arms to stare at his mask less face. As her eyes searched his face, hungrily taking in everything that she might never see again, Kakashi stared back.

As thanks, Tsume finally broke her gaze and kissed his cheek, saying goodnight and leaving for her bedroom. She left a frozen Kakashi standing at the top of the stairs, gazing at her closed door longingly.

Neither of them noticed the quietly cackling little girl slip back into her bedroom, clutching a puppy stuffed animal to her chest.

A/N: Okay, so we got a little Kakashi/Tsume action going on. Hana is revealed to be a devious little girl. Naruto is revealed to not like sleeping. Okay. I think I might be able to write another quick chapter today, at the very least tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

Hana hurried out into the forest outside her home, clutching a bundle close to her chest. She glanced side to side, short brown hair whipping her face at her quick movements. She sighed in relief upon seeing no one around, the red triangle tattoos on her cheeks relaxing from their pinched position.

Everyone had gone to the doctor's for the kids' checkups. Hana had been allowed to stay home, her next appointment being a few weeks away. Her mother had told her that if she so much as thought about leaving the compound, she would be grounded for a month.

Technically, she wasn't leaving the compound.

Her best friend was living in their forest, after outright refusing to be adopted by Kakashi like the other kids. The Hokage had almost made it a mission, Itachi had told her. But when he left he came straight to her, and since then no one had been able to find him.

He _was_ one of the best Genin there were.

Today was one of the only days she could see him, bring him food, and convince him to come into the house and wash up. Every other day someone was home watching her.

Hana found her way to the clearing they had been meeting in, already expecting the young Uchiha standing in front of her.

"Itachi," she said. "I brought you some more food. There should be enough to last you until next week."

"Thank you, Hana." The raven said, accepting the basket Hana offered to him. He turned and placed it on a high branch, ensuring that no animals would get to it while he was gone.

"Itachi," Hana started, but Itachi cut across her.

"I know, Hana. You want me to come in and get it washed up, have a proper meal." Itachi was shaking his head, but even as he finished the sentence, he was moving towards the house.

The Inuzuka smiled and followed her friend.

The house was quiet, sounding strange as their footsteps echoed on the wood floor. Hana was used to the sound of children and her mother and Kakashi; this silence was freaking her out.

She led Itachi to the kids' bathroom, the one only she used. "Here," she said, shoving a towel and a change of clothes into Itachi's arms. "And you better wash real good!" she called through the closed door as Itachi locked it.

She walked back down the stairs, into the kitchen and to the fridge. She knew what Itachi liked, having been close friends with him because of their parents. The only problem was, she didn't know how to make anything. She settled for pulling out the leftover ramen from last night's dinner.

Hana heated up the soup that Kakashi liked so much, pouring it into a bowl and leaving it on the table for her friend to find.

Itachi would find it and eat it, knowing that he had to hurry if he wanted to stay hidden.

/\/\

Kakashi carried Naruto and Sasuke carefully, not trusting his slowly emerging parenting instincts in case he accidently dropped one of them. Tsume would kill him if he did.

"Tsume," he called. "Are you sure we should have left Hana alone?"

"Kakashi," Tsume started, but abruptly froze. She sniffed the air, tilting her head back. Her already slit eyes narrowed even further, and she hurried forward with Sakura and Kiba. "Something's not right," she growled.

Kakashi picked up his pace, trying to keep up with the older woman's strides. She slammed the door to the house open, startling Hana, who was sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Mom!" she shouted in shock. The young Inuzuka scrambled backwards, towards the kitchen.

"Where are you going, young lady?" Tsume snarled. Kuromaru appeared and barked something to Tsume. The Tokubetsu Jonin's eyes narrowed, and her gaze turned to the ceiling as she sniffed the air.

"Who else is in this house?" Tsume hissed at her daughter, who shrank back in fear.

"Y-You, me and everyone else," Hana answered, still shuffling backwards.

"And who is everyone else?" Tsume asked, a sadistic smile crossing her features. "Because the last time I checked, we didn't give you permission to have a friend over. Did we, Kakashi?"

Kakashi started at the sound of his name. "Uhhh…no."

"Exactly. Hana, who else is in this house?" Tsume repeated.

"I-" Hana started, backing up into the wall. She whimpered, slit irises sliding back and forth as she searched for a way out. A young boy, not much older than Hana, stepped up next to the young Inuzuka. He looked familiar, but Kakashi couldn't recall where he had seen him before.

"Itachi?" Tsume asked, momentarily forgetting her anger. "What are you doing here?"

Itachi gave a small smile that didn't look real, and tilted his head to the side. "I'm here because your daughter has been kind enough to provide me with food while I hide."

"SHE DID WHAT?" Tsume exploded, startling Naruto and Kiba into tears. She did nothing about them, just dropped them on the floor for Kuromaru to watch.

"Hana, can I talk to you in private?" Tsume asked through gritted teeth, reigning in her anger long enough for her to drag her daughter out of the room.

Kakashi stared at Itachi, finally remembering where he had seen him before. When he had first come over to the Uchiha complex, having been sent to get Fugaku for a mission, he had seen Itachi. He had been three at the time, and he was still smiling like a child stood. The child in front if Kakashi now didn't remind the nineteen-year-old of the young Uchiha he remembered at all.

Kakashi decided to ignore the Uchiha as he set the two kids he was holding down next to Kuromaru, going into the kitchen to drop off the bag of groceries that had been slung over his shoulder. Now that he thought about it, he could remember that over the past few weeks, they had been going to the grocery story more often. He hadn't thought much about it, seeing as they had four babies, a six-year-old girl and two adults to feed.

He apparently hadn't noticed that they weren't buying baby food, though; they were buying things that babies didn't eat, and that Tsume, Hana, and him didn't eat enough of for them to be going to the store every week to buy it.

Seeing as he was an ANBU level shinobi, he should have noticed.

_Oh, well_, he thought. _I guess I should make sure Tsume doesn't kill Hana._

A/N: Itachi! Hinata-chan, if you're reading this, don't worry about Itachi. I have good plans for him. Anyways, I feel that this chapter could have been better. But I'm tired of having unfinished chapters lying around, and I decided to just finish this and post it. If you see any mistakes, I'm sorry. I have so many stories right now, I keep mixing them up. If you read Family Love, the latest chapter is proof of that.


	6. Chapter 6

Tsume let Kakashi lead her upstairs into her room, still seething with anger.

"Tsume," he said as he closed the door. "Calm down. It's not that big of a deal."

Tsume turned to the only window in the room, keeping her face hidden from the younger ninja. She could feel her anger slipping away, comforted by the sound of Kakashi's voice.

She had never realized how much she actually depended on the man when her anger got the best of her.

"I know," she whispered. "I just don't want my baby girl hurt by Itachi."

Kakashi stepped up next to the Tokubetsu Jonin. "Tsume, Hana knows what she's doing."

"Kakashi, she's only six!" Tsume turned to him with tears in her eyes. "She doesn't know that men can be cruel, evil, and thoughtless! She doesn't know," she ended in a much quieter voice.

Kakashi's voice was soft and soothing when he spoke again. "Is this about Isamu?"

"I—" Tsume nodded, not finishing her sentence.

"Tsume, if Isamu chose to leave you, it's because he wasn't strong enough to handle who you really were. He chose to leave you instead of making you live with a marriage whose foundation was based on fear." Kakashi placed a hand on Tsume's shaking shoulder.

"You deserve better," he finished quietly.

"Kakashi," Tsume murmured. "Why do you care so much?"

Kakashi gave a tiny smile, barely visible through his mask. Tsume pulled it down gently.

"Because I'm one of the only people you've ever let in this far. You keep people at arm's length, trying to protect yourself. But you have your weaknesses," Kakashi said.

"That doesn't explain why you care so much," Tsume pointed out, her voice still hushed.

"Plus, you are one of the only people I've let see my face without killing them," he added. He pulled Tsume closer to him, resting his chin on the top of her head.

"Thank you, Kakashi. I'm glad I took this mission." Tsume said what seemed like hours later, but was probably only a couple minutes.

"Why?"

"Because I never would have met the real you if I hadn't."

/\/\

Outside her mother's door, Hana threw her hands in the air. Itachi, standing next to her, smiled.

"It worked!" the Inuzuka muttered victoriously. "I knew it would,"

Itachi decided not to point out that it was his plan, and that Hana had adamantly refused to go along with it.

Of course, it happened anyways, completely accidental.

/\/\

When Kakashi and Tsume finally emerged from the bedroom, Tsume had calmed down to an unbelievable level, and Kakashi still had his mask pooled around his neck.

He didn't even look at the kids as they openly stared at his face. He was too concentrated on the fact that one child was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Kiba?"

Tsume's eyes snapped open, and slit irises raked the room for any sign of her son. Hana chuckled quietly.

"He's in the kitchen with Kuromaru."

Tsume visibly sagged with relief, leaning against Kakashi for support. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders almost unconsciously.

Hana eyed her mother and Kakashi curiously, wondering what had happened in that bedroom after Itachi had dragged her away. She didn't say anything, though.

"Itachi," Kakashi said. The Uchiha looked up at the tall man stonily.

"We've been thinking," Tsume said. "That you should stay here, at least until you get your own place. We don't have to adopt you," she added, reading the expression on the raven's face.

"You can just stay here. We wouldn't be very good parents if we let you live in the forest for the rest of your life." Kakashi said.

"I wouldn't want to intrude—"Itachi started.

"We have plenty of room." Tsume said firmly. Her eyes held the determination she was feeling.

"I—"

"Just do it, Itachi. If you don't she'll never let it go," Hana said. Itachi sighed.

"Fine. Just let me get my things."

He trudged out the door, Hana following close behind.

Kakashi bent down to pick up Sakura and Naruto, looking around to see where Sasuke was. The youngest Uchiha was asleep, leaning against Kasumi, the little pup wagging her tail.

Tsume picked up Sasuke gently, smiling softly before going off in search of her son.

Kakashi moved up the stairs to Hana's room, gently setting Sakura in her crib. The baby was already asleep, so it wasn't that much of a hassle to get done with her.

Naruto was next, and the little blonde was poking his face curiously, cooing at him. He was obviously not going to get to sleep easily.

The nursery was dark, and he had trouble navigating his way to Naruto's crib. He placed Naruto on the mattress, only for the baby to whine without anything to play with.

He sighed, leaning closer to his sensei's kid.

Tsume closed the door to the nursery, smiling at Kakashi.

"Is he not going to sleep?" she asked. Kakashi nodded.

"Here, I'll help you."

Tsume placed Sasuke and Kiba in their cribs, moving over to stand next to Kakashi.

She had been much more willing to help him get the kids to sleep when she discovered that he had absolutely no talent in singing.

Tsume sang Naruto to sleep, and Kakashi listened to the beautiful voice he knew so well. He really did like Tsume—no, without her, none of this would have happened. He loved her.

Little did he know, there were two little troublemakers in the same house as him, and they had a plan.

/\/\

Hana sneaked into Itachi's room, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Is everything ready for tomorrow?" she asked anxiously. Itachi nodded.

"Everything's ready. They'll be together before the end of the day."

A/N: Okay, this chapter, in my opinion, was not as good as the other ones. Oh well. I can't do anything about that.

So, I've been trying to fit in as much Kakashi/Tsume as possible so I can move on with the story. It's kind of hard, trying to keep them in character, and take it slow so it doesn't seem like they hate each other one minute, the next they're getting married.

Tell me how I'm doing, because personally, I think I'm failing.


	7. Chapter 7

Tsume woke up the next morning when something tickled her nose. When she opened her eyes to see what it was, she let out a blood-curdling scream.

She cowered against the wall, one hand clamped over her mouth and nose, until Kakashi burst into the room, a kunai in his hand.

"What's wrong?" he asked, searching the room for an intruder. When he found none, he sighed in relief, turning to the Inuzuka.

The older kunoichi whimpered, using her free hand to point at the animal on her bed. The black kitten cocked her head to the side, lashing her tail behind her.

Kakashi crouched next to Tsume."It's just a little kitten. What harm could it do?"

The brunette gestured frantically for him to get the cat out her room. It was clear she wasn't going to move until the cat was gone.

Kakashi sighed and stood up, picking up the cat. He walked down the stairs, setting her down and nudging her forward in the direction of town. Someone would find her and take her in.

The silver-haired ninja went back inside and to the nursery, checking that the kids were still asleep before going back to Tsume.

She was still sitting on the floor, but the lower half of her face was uncovered. Kakashi plopped down next to her.

"Hey," he said gently. "Are you okay?"

Tsume nodded shakily. "Yeah. It's just…I have this fear of cats."

Kakashi wanted to say something sarcastic, but decided not to. Instead, he asked, "Why?"

She took in a shuddering breath, tense muscles finally relaxing. "Well, for starters, I'm an Inuzuka. We naturally hate them. But when I was younger my cousin would randomly scare me with cats, and now I'm just scared of them."

Kakashi chuckled. "You know, I used to be afraid of dogs," he admitted. "I was kind of small when I was younger, and they always intimidated me. Then my dad finally realized and helped me out."

Tsume sighed. "My cousin just made it worse. Every year he got more daring with his pranks, until it finally got so bad that if I so much as _see_ a cat I run in the other direction."

Kakashi frowned, staring out the window across the room. "Maybe all you need is someone to help you out, like my dad did for me."

"Good luck trying to find someone to help me." Tsume snorted.

Kakashi smiled suddenly. "I can help you!"

The Inuzuka stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"I can help you overcome your fear of cats." Kakashi repeated. "That way you don't need to worry about your feat getting out, and it's free!"

Tsume thought about it for a minute. "Sure," she finally said. "Why not?"

/\/\

Hana sat in Itachi's room with a scowl on her face.

"Come _on_, Itachi!" she called. The Uchiha appeared from inside his closet, an eyebrow raised.

"What is so important?" he wondered.

Hana snorted. "I'm not going to answer that because I know you know what is so important."

Itachi rolled his eyes, slipping on his shirt. "Fine," he said. "Let's go."

He followed her out of the room, allowing a small smile to grace his face. He honestly never thought that he would be standing here a couple months ago.

Somewhere in the house a baby cried, and Hana grinned at the familiarity of it. Everything was back to normal.

Hana picked up the little kitten still standing outside, her small body shaking. She wrapped the cat in her jacket, ensuring that she would be warm.

"Come on. We have to return Onyx to the Yamanka's before they start wondering where we are."  
>The Inuzuka said, grabbing her friend's wrist and dragging him behind her.<p>

Inoichi thanked them for bringing Onyx, and Hana saw little Ino playing with some paper flowers on the floor. She smiled and told the blonde that she was glad they had been able to use her, then they left to start the next part of the plan.

/\/\

Tsume sighed as Kiba reached out for Kuromaru, small hands clenching and unclenching in the air. For some reason her son felt the need to touch her dog.

Kakashi was sitting on the floor, cradling an unusually quiet Naruto while Sasuke and Sakura played next to him. The younger ninja was blinking fast, struggling not to fall asleep. He had gotten so little sleep lately…

Sure, he was used to working on little periods of rest. But not continuously like this, where he only got a couple hours here and there.

Tsume wasn't doing much better. She had some preparation because of Hana, and if it was only Kiba she would be fine. But it wasn't just Kiba. She had Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura also, which made it that much harder.

She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. Although, with Hana gone with Itachi that was two kids less to worry about. As long as she was with Itachi she would be safe.

Besides, she had more pressing matters to deal with.

She set Kiba down next to Sasuke and walked into the kitchen.

It was time to master the art of cooking.

/\/\

Hana whined as Itachi stopped to ask yet another person for the time. Why he was doing this, she would never know. He had asked barely five minutes ago!

"Itachi," she pleaded. "Can we finish the plan sometime this year? I have things I want to do."

Itachi turned to her. "Do you _want_ to get Kakashi and your mother together?"

"Yes." Hana pouted.

"Good." Itachi turned back to the store they were in front of. "Because it's time for the next part of the plan."

/\/\

Tsume growled as she burned yet _another_ pot of noodles. How hard could this possibly be? It was noodles, for God's sake!

She was a kunoichi! This should be a piece of cake for her!

The Inuzuka threw the burnt noodles, refilling the pot with water and setting it back on the stove. She readjusted the temperature leaning her hip against the counter and staring down at the water.

"What are you _doing_?" Kakashi exclaimed, reaching past her to lower the temperature. "Even my _father_ knew that you weren't supposed to have it this high!"

Tsume flushed when she realized that the stove had been set on high. "Oops," she murmured.

Kakashi sighed, shaking his head. "There was a reason that my father was famous for eating out. He couldn't cook."

"So what?" Tsume countered. "I doubt _you_ could do better."

Kakashi smirked under his mask. "I know a few things. Move. I'll get dinner. You watch the kids."

Tsume growled as Kakashi gently pushed her to the side.

"No."

Kakashi blinked. "Excuse me?"

"No. I want to learn." Tsume said.

"Okay." Kakashi agreed. It was Tsume's turn to blink. Huh. That had actually worked.

Kakashi proceeded to show her how to boil the water and heat the noodles. He chopped up the vegetables they needed while Tsume watched the noodles.

When Kakashi was done, he slid behind Tsume and wrapped his arms around her waist. She leaned back into him, eyes never leaving the noodles.

"You're doing great." Kakashi whispered. Tsume tilted her head back, smiling a little. Her fangs flashed in the sunlight, reminding him of how unique this woman was. At times she could be caring—at others, you had best run for your life.

"Thanks," she said quietly.

They stared at each other for a moment, then Tsume turned and brought her arms around his neck. She pulled his mask down, caressing his face with her hand. Lightly, she pressed her lips to his, and they both sighed when she pulled back.

"I love you." Kakashi said, dazed. Tsume laughed quietly.

"I love you too."

A/N: Okay, so I apologize for the crappy chapter. I just did not know how to go on with this story. BUT! The next chapter the kids will be a little older, and Tsume and Kakashi will officially be dating. At least, I think that's my plan. I have to think about it a little.


	8. Chapter 8

Kakashi was having a great day lying on the couch with a still-small Kasumi stretched out next to him.

Until Hana came home with a crying Naruto on her back.

"Dad," she said. To not confuse the kids when they were learning how to talk, Hana had started calling him Dad. She never actually stopped.

"What's wrong?" he asked, sitting up and staring at the two kids. Hana set Naruto down on the couch next to the Jonin.

"He was bullied by some kids walking home, or something." Hana shrugged, unsure as to what had actually happened.

Kakashi pulled Naruto into his lap and hugged him close, sighing as he wished Tsume were here. She had always been better at these kinds of things than he was.

"Its okay, Naruto," he whispered. Naruto sniffled, burying his face in Kakashi's vest. Kakashi looked up to see where Hana was, only to find that she had disappeared, leaving him alone to figure out the problem and soothe his son.

"D-daddy," Naruto whispered, voice choked. Kakashi hummed to show he was listening. "Am I a monster?"

Kakashi froze, not understanding the words that had come out from his son's mouth for a second.

"No, Naruto, you are not a monster." Kakashi finally said. "Who told you that you were?"

"Some kids at school."Naruto answered. Kakashi held back a snarl—living with three Inuzuka's, you had to pick up some traits.

"Well, that's because they don't know the real you. They don't know what you're really like." Kakashi said.

Naruto sat up and wiped his tears away. "You're right, Daddy! Where are Kiba and Sasuke?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Upstairs in their room."

Naruto was halfway up the stairs before he had even finished the sentence.

Kakashi groaned and dropped his head into his hands. God, he was barely six and already people thought Naruto was the Demon Fox.

/\/\

Later, when Tsume was finally home from where ever she had been, Kakashi told her about what had happened to Naruto.

Tsume growled, slit irises narrowed in anger. "How dare they do that to him!"

Kakashi sighed. "Tsume, we have to do something about this."

"You think I don't know that?" she snapped, instantly calming down when Sakura walked in to the kitchen.

"Mom," she said. "Where are my shoes?"

"In the hallway. Where they should be. Why?" Tsume said. Sakura smiled.

"I'm going over to Ino's house for a while." Sakura answered. She waved and left, and Tsume immediately turned back to Kakashi.

"What are you going to do about this?" she asked, leaning against the counter. Kakashi blinked.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. He's your son." Tsume replied, biting into an apple while she waited for the chicken in the oven to finish.

"He's your son, too!"

"Anyways, you have to get this solved. Talk to the Hokage, the teachers, something. I'm busy for the next couple days and wouldn't have time to do it." Tsume said, as if she hadn't heard what Kakashi was saying.

"I'm not getting out of this, am I?" Kakashi said. Yeah, he loved his son, but he had things to do. Then he blinked and smirked, clearly visible without his mask.

Yeah, he was going to have fun with solving this.

/\/\

The next day, Kakashi waited outside the Academy for the school to end and the kids to come out.

He had been able to get a description of the kids from Naruto, and now all he had to do was find them.

He didn't have to wait long. Minutes after he had settled himself against a wall, students flooded the yard, searching for parents. Kakashi was here for two reasons. One, to pick up his kids. Two, to beat up the kids who had bullied Naruto.

It was time for him to do number two.

He walked over to where the three kids were laughing, striding out of the courtyard. The tallest boy clapped the brunette next to him on the back, and Kakashi jumped up into the tree in front of them. When the three stopped for a moment in front of him, he dropped to the ground and scared the crap out of them.

"Hello, boys," he greeted, straightening. He slipped his hand into his pocket, tilting his head to the side. "I heard you made my son cry."

The tall one gulped, shoving his friend in front of him. "It was him!" he shrieked. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think so. Naruto told me that it was you…Dai."

Dai screeched and turned to run, but Kakashi was already behind him. "You're not going anywhere. You need to pay for what you said to my son."

His two friends cowered by the tree, and Kakashi smirked under his mask.

"So," he said. "What do you think you should do about this?"

"I-I don't know," Dai whimpered.

"Wrong answer."

By the time Kakashi was done with the three of them, they were terrified of him and had wet their pants at least three times—each.

/\/\

That night, Naruto was gulping down his food so fast Kakashi almost wondered if he was okay—but he had raised this kid. He knew that eating like this was Naruto's way of recovering from a traumatic experience. And yesterday he had only picked at his dinner. He was fine.

"I'm a vegetarian," Hana announced suddenly. Kakashi blinked at her. Kiba and Naruto stared at her, mouths gaping open. Sakura continued eating. And Itachi and Sasuke rolled their eyes.

"Sis, how can you become a _vegetarian_?"Kiba shuddered, like the very idea of it was painful.

"Easy. I don't want to eat meat anymore." Hana answered, shrugging.

"We're Inuzuka's!"Naruto shouted. Technically, he wasn't an Inuzuka, but he was as good as one.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Hana, are you sure?" he asked. She nodded.

"Are you sure?" Kiba repeated. He waved a piece of leftover chicken under her nose. She twitched. "If you become a vegetarian, you can't eat chicken."

She growled at him, and Kakashi chuckled. This was so normal.

"Yes," Hana said. "I am sure. Now if you'll excuse me, I am going to my room."She dropped her plate in the sink and stalked out of the room.

The second they had heard the sound of her door slamming shut, Kiba burst out laughing. "You can totally tell that she can't stand the thought of being away from her chicken!" he exclaimed.

Kakashi shook his head and laughed.

A/N: Yay, another chapter! I really don't have anything better to do with my life. I need a hobby…oh wait. Writing is my hobby. Oh well! Tell me what you think!


	9. Chapter 9

Kakashi was peacefully sleeping when the sound of retching his ears. He sat up and looked around, noticing that Tsume was not in bed next to him, and that the bathroom light was on. He glanced at the clock and saw that it was only four in the morning, and that none of the kids would be up.

He stood up and padded to the bathroom, wondering what had Tsume up in the middle of the night to throw up.

The sight of his girlfriend crouching in front of the toilet, coughing and hacking, was almost enough for him to get a doctor—he had never really liked being around sick people. But he swallowed his disgust and stepped up next to Tsume, dropping to his knees next to her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, rubbing her back. Tsume lifted her head and wiped her mouth, barely finding enough energy to glare at him.

"What do you think is wrong?" she snapped hoarsely. Kakashi reached up to the flush the toilet without looking.

"You're throwing up," he answered. Tsume growled and collapsed against the side of the bathtub.

"Can I have some water?" she asked weakly. Kakashi stood up and went to the sink, filling a glass with water. He handed it back to her and watched as she gulped down the liquid. He took the glass back and set it on the sink.

"You stay here," he said. His girlfriend stared up at him, like, "Where do you think I'm going?"

"I'll be back," he continued. Kakashi left the bathroom and walked down the stairs into the kitchen, hunting through the cupboards until he found the orange bowl they used for popcorn when they watched movies together.

He grabbed a thermometer, just in case. Walking back up the stairs, he stopped at the boys' bedroom to make sure they were still sleeping. He didn't bother checking the rest of the kids; they were all heavy sleepers, and if Kiba was still asleep (the lightest sleeper of all of them), then there was no reason to worry.

Back in the bedroom, Tsume was still sprawled across the bathroom floor, too weak to get up.

"Come on, Tsume," Kakashi said, dropping the bowl and thermometer on the bed. He helped Tsume stand and walked over to the bed, moving the items sitting there. Tsume plopped down and sighed angrily. She hated being sick.

"Tsume," Kakashi said. She opened her eyes to stare at him. "Do you need to go to the doctor?"

"God, no!" Tsume sat up so quickly a wave of nausea overcame her. "No, you won't make me go! It's just a bit of a cold, I'm fine."

Kakashi pressed his hand against her forehead and groaned. "You have a fever, Tsume," he pointed out. She frowned.

"No I don't."

"Yes you do." Just to prove it, he grabbed the thermometer and stuck it in Tsume's mouth, waiting until it beeped. He looked down at it. "101. Tsume, this is not a cold. You probably have the flu."

"So?" Tsume coughed. "I don't need a doctor."

"Fine." Kakashi threw his hands up in the air. He glanced at the clock. It was five now.

"I'm going to wake up the kids and get them ready for school. You stay here and get some rest." Kakashi said, closing the door behind him so he couldn't hear the muttered curses being thrown at him.

He went to Hana and Sakura's room first. Hana was graduating today, and Sakura was excited to see her older sister wear the Konoha headband. Kakashi had given up trying to understand the two girls.

He opened the door and glanced at the two still sleeping girls and carefully looked around to see if any of the family dogs were in there. He didn't want to step on one in the dark.

"Hana," he muttered next to the brunette. He shook her shoulder. The young Inuzuka rolled over with a groan, flinging an arm out and almost hitting him in the face. Kakashi stepped back and shook her again. Hana sat up with a low growl, glaring at him through the dark.

"What?" she hissed.

"Time to get up for school," he answered. "You're graduating, remember?"

Hana groaned and flung herself back against the mattress. "Mom never wakes us up this early."

"You don't even know what time it is."Kakashi retorted, moving over to the bed on the other side of the room. "Sakura."

The pink-haired girl flung out an arm, much like her sister had done, only this time she got his face. Her hand poked him in the face, and Kakashi shook his head.

"I'm not an alarm clock," he said. Sakura opened her eyes and stared up at him sheepishly.

"Oh. Sorry, Dad," she said. Kakashi shrugged.

"Just get ready for school. And wake up Itachi while you're at it," he added over his shoulder as he walked to the door. Hana groaned in response.

In the boys' bedroom, he was amazed at how messy it was. Clothes and toys were flung everywhere, covering every surface. Just barely, he could see where the beds were across the room. Kiba's was the one next to the window, and Naruto's was next to him. Sasuke slept closest to the door. Kakashi started there.

Picking his way through the mess, he moved to Sasuke and poked him gingerly. If Sakura and Hana were hitting him with arms, he would hate to see what the boys would do. "Sasuke," he whispered. Dark eyes opened sleepily, and the raven sighed.

"Where's Mom?" he asked quietly, voice hoarse from sleep. Kakashi groaned.

"Can't I wake up my children for once without being interrogated?"

"Sure. Whatever," Sasuke muttered.

"Wake up your brothers." Kakashi said, walking back out the door carefully.

Downstairs, he could hear Sasuke wake up Kiba and Naruto. There were a series of shouts, curses, more yells from the girls, and then finally all his kids were in front of him.

Naruto and Kiba were glaring at Sasuke angrily; Kakashi wondered what the raven had done to them briefly. He decided he didn't want to know.

"So…" Kakashi trailed off. What did Tsume do in the morning after the kids were awake?

"Where are our lunches?" Sakura wondered, tying her long pink hair back in a pony. Kakashi blinked at the question.

"Uhh…Wherever Mom puts them?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, and Kiba walked over to the fridge. Opening it, he pointed to the lowest shelf.

"Oh." Kakashi stepped over next to the brunette. "Which one is which?"

Kiba groaned. "Dad, you are totally clueless."

"It's not my fault!" Kakashi defended himself. "I'm usually gone by now! Your mother takes care of this."

"Where is Mom?" Sakura wondered.

"She has the flu," Kakashi answered. He crouched down in front of the fridge and sorted through the lunch bags, peeking in and eventually finding out who had what one.

"Okay, Sasuke," Kakashi said. "This is yours…Naruto, Kiba, Itachi, Hana and Sakura." He handed them each their bag and stood up. "If they're wrong, live with it."

His kids glanced at each other warily. Cautiously, they looked in their bags and checked that it was theirs. Relieved, they sighed when they saw that they were theirs.

"Bye, Dad!" they said, waving and walking to the door. Sakura paused to give him a hug, and Itachi glared at the wall. Personally, Kakashi thought that his parents had messed him up and now the kid had anger issues.

When the last kid had walked out the door, Kakashi was alone with the dogs and a sick Tsume.

Picking up Kasumi, he scratched behind the beagle's ear. "You agree with me, right?" he asked quietly. His dog (Tsume had decided that Kasumi had become so attached to Kakashi that she might as well be his), panted and licked his cheek, wagging her tail.

"I'll take that as a yes." Kakashi chuckled. He set the dog down and looked up the stairs towards his and Tsume's bedroom. Now he had to go check on his girlfriend.

A/N: Okay, so I honestly don't know what is going to happen in the next chapter. It will be a surprise for all of us! Anyways, hope you liked this chapter, and thank you for all of the reviews. I honestly can't say how much they mean to me! Thank you!


	10. Chapter 10

Tsume coughed and rolled onto her back, glaring at the ceiling. Today of all days, she had to get the flu!

"Damn you, Shikaku," she muttered. The Nara had worked with her the other day, not completely recovered from his bout with the flu. He had passed it to her.

"Why are you damning Shikaku?" Kakashi asked from the doorway, biting his lip to hide a smirk. Tsume lifted her head to glare at him.

"Because he is the reason I'm sick," the Inuzuka growled. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I didn't know that it was possible for Nara's to get sick." Kakashi laughed quietly.

"Shut up!" Tsume snarled. "That is not the point. The point is that I have the flu…" –a wicked gleam in her eyes made Kakashi shudder—"…and you are going to have to listen to everything I say."

"Huh?" Kakashi blinked. He didn't think that was how it went.

"You have to listen to everything I say. So if I tell you…to go take care of the dog poop in the yard, you have to do it," his girlfriend smirked, sitting up. She threw a fist in the air. "I love being sick!"

She coughed, flopping down on the bed. "Sort of."

"I don't really have to pick up the dog poop, do I?" Kakashi whimpered just at the thought. The Inuzuka's had nearly two dozen dogs—and they all used the same "bathroom." That would take hours to clean.

"No." Tsume waved her hand in the air. "Have the boys do it when they get home from the Academy."

Kakashi shrugged. "Sounds good to me. Do you need anything?"

Tsume thought for a long moment. "Can you get me something to eat?"

Kakashi frowned, cocking his head to the side. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I remember when I was little and I got sick. My dad told me that I couldn't eat anything for like an hour, or at least until I could hold some water down."

"And I had a glass of water nearly a half hour ago. It hasn't come back for an encore." Tsume pointed out. Kakashi sighed and left the room.

In the kitchen, Kakashi opened the fridge and studied the contents. He stood there for probably a good five minutes, staring into the fridge without really seeing anything. It wasn't until he started shivering that he realized he wasn't wearing a shirt, and that there was no point standing here if he wasn't going to grab anything.

So he went to the cupboards and hunted around until he found some bread, and popped some into the toaster, leaning against the counter and waiting.

Kasumi pranced around his feet, and he smiled and picked her up. "You should go up to Mommy," he whispered to her. She barked and wagged her tail. "I'm sure she would appreciate your company."

When he set her down, Kasumi bounded up the stairs to Tsume.

The toast popped up and Kakashi grabbed it, walking back up the stairs. Kasumi was standing on the bed by Tsume's face, wagging her tail happily. Tsume was petting the dog, sighing as the smell of the toast filled her nose.

"Give me," she demanded, holding out a hand. Kakashi gave her the toast, and rolled his eyes as she bit into it hungrily.

"Kasumi looks happy," he commented. Tsume nodded, glancing up.

"That reminds me. Kakashi, can you go down to the kennel and get Kiba's dog? I would do it myself, but I don't think that I would be able to walk that far."

Kakashi shrugged. "Sure, I guess I can do it. Did you already have one picked out?"

"No." The Inuzuka shook her head. "Just pick three or four and bring them back for me to check. If there's one that I think would fit him, we'll give him that one. Whatever dogs are left we can let the other kids choose from."

"Okay," he agreed. "I'll be back soon, then."

He left the room again, grabbing a shirt on his way.

/\/\

In the Inuzuka kennel, Kakashi crouched down in front of the cages and studied the puppies. There was a small chocolate Labrador, a couple golden retrievers, one beagle, and then a tiny white puppy with brown ears of a breed he didn't know.

He carefully picked up the Labrador and the beagle, and then two retrievers. Almost as an afterthought he whistled to the white puppy, and it followed him happily as Kakashi walked out of the kennel.

Tsume had sat up in bed, her toast long gone. She was frowning down at the comforter twisted in her hands, cautiously sniffing the air. She glanced up when her boyfriend walked in.

The yapping dogs jumped up on the bed and tumbled around each other. Tsume stared at the puppies carefully, judging them. The poor puppies had no idea what she was doing, oblivious to her calculating stare.

"Okay," she said, clapping. The startled dogs whined and stared at her. "I have chosen!"

Vaguely Kakashi thought that she sounded kind of scary.

"Which one?" Kakashi asked.

"The white one."

Kakashi blinked. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Tsume nodded. "I know what I'm doing, Kakashi. This little puppy will grow into a fine dog."

Kakashi shrugged. He wasn't going to criticize her choices.

"Lock the dogs in the living room. When the kids get home we'll give Kiba his puppy, and the other kids can choose theirs." Tsume said, leaning back against the pillows. "I'm gonna take a nap."

She closed her eyes and Kakashi herded the puppies out of the room.

/\/\

Kakashi left a couple hours later to pick the kids up. Ever since those kids had talked to Naruto like that he had been a bit paranoid, never letting the kids walk home alone anymore.

He stood by the front gate, nodding to other parents he happened to know. He grinned under his mask when he saw Shikaku, and he walked over to stand next to him.

"You know," he started. "Tsume is really mad at you."

Shikaku glanced up from the ground, groaning pitifully. "What did I do now?" he asked roughly. Kakashi shrugged.

"She thinks you got her sick."

"Damn! I did?" Shikaku muttered. Kakashi nodded.

"Yep. She damned you this morning after throwing up." Kakashi said brightly. Shikaku groaned again, tilting his head back to stare at the sky.

"I'm so dead."

"Yes. Yes you are." Kakashi agreed, leaning against the wall to look for the kids.

He nearly fell over when small kid ran into him, hugging him hard. "Hi, Daddy!" Naruto cried happily. Kakashi chuckled.

"Hey, kiddo," he said, ruffling the blonde's hair. Sasuke and Kiba followed at a much slower pace, and Sakura was trailing behind to Ino Yamanaka.

"Come on, you guys!" Naruto called back to his siblings. Kiba ran over to them, and Sakura said goodbye to Ino and hurried over.

By the time Sasuke had finally joined them, Naruto was bouncing up and down with anticipation. "Come on! We have to see Mommy and make her feel better!"

Kakashi chuckled and led the way back home, pulling Naruto along when he stopped to talk to Shikamaru and his dad.

When they finally got home, Tsume was curled up on the couch in the living room with the dogs, watching TV with a blanket wrapped around her.

"Mommy!" Naruto cried, running forward to sit next to Tsume. She chuckled and hugged him lightly.

"Hey, Naruto," she said. "How was school?"

"Great! I made you a card," he added, pulling a crumpled piece of paper from his back pocket. Tsume took it with a raised eyebrow and read it, smiling.

"Oh, thanks, sweetie," she said, hugging the little blonde again. "Hey, I have a surprise for you guys."

Kiba lunged forward, grinning. "What is it? What is it?"

Tsume smirked, disentangling herself from the blanket. "Here," she said, picking up the white puppy curled up by the TV. "Kiba, here's your ninja dog."

Kiba jumped, whooping, into the air. "YES!"

"His name is Akamaru." Tsume went on, handing the puppy to the brunette. "Take care of him."

"As for the rest of you," Kakashi said, and the remaining three kids looked at him. "You can pick a dog from the four in here. They will be your responsibility."

Sakura crouched down in front of the chocolate lab, cooing at the puppy. Naruto bounded forward and picked up the beagle, and Sasuke shrugged and sat down next to a golden retriever.

"What are you going to name them?" Tsume asked as she sat back down. Naruto smiled.

"I wanna name mine Ramen!" he announced. Sakura frowned.

"Are you sure, Naruto? In a few years you might not like ramen anymore, and by then it will be too late to change it."

"How could I not like ramen?" Naruto exclaimed. "It's the best thing in the world!"

And then he cooed the puppy's new name to the beagle repeatedly. Kakashi sighed.

Sakura thought for a long moment. "I think…I'll name mine Coco."

"A great name, Sakura. What about you, Sasuke?" Kakashi said.

"Darkness," Sasuke said, a weird glint to his eyes.

"NO!" Tsume shouted. "You can't name your dog something as depressing as that. How about…Hunter? Or Rusty? Your dog looks kinda reddish."

Sasuke sighed. "Fine. Rusty."

Kakashi clapped. "Great! Now go play with your dogs while your mother rests."

The kids left with their dogs and the blessed silence following made Kakashi smile.

"What are you going to do about Itachi?" Kakashi asked. "He seems to be getting restless or something."

Tsume shrugged, closing her eyes. "If he feels like telling us, he will. For now, let's enjoy the quiet we have been graced with."

A/N: Man, I cannot believe how long this took! I kept stopping because I didn't really know what I was doing. Now I have some ideas, though, so the next few chapters should be interesting. Review, please!


	11. Chapter 11

Kakashi was enjoying his day off on the couch half-asleep, watching some movie on the television that he wasn't paying attention to. Kasumi had sprawled out on his chest, and he idly stroked her back as he stared at the TV. The beagle lifted her head and licked his cheek happily.

Naruto successfully broke the calm and peaceful atmosphere when he burst into the living room loudly.

"Daddy!" he shouted. "Look what I found!"

Kakashi lifted his head to glance at what was in his son's arms, then sat upright abruptly when he did. "Naruto," he said very firmly. "You have to get that out of here."

"What? Why?" Naruto asked, petting the cat. He purred and opened his green eyes to stare at Kakashi.

"Because," Kakashi said slowly. "Your mother—"

He was cut off when Tsume called out, "I'm home!" and he frantically tried to gesture to Naruto to get the cat out of here.

Because no matter how hard he had tried to help his girlfriend, she had not gotten over her extreme fear of cats.

Tsume walked into the room and sniffed the air, frowning. "Why do I…smell…"she trailed at the sight of Naruto holding the cat, and she cringed, letting out a scream.

"Get that cat out of here!" Kakashi exclaimed, setting Kasumi down on the ground. She sniffed the air and barked, running towards Naruto and the cat. He yelped and sprinted away.

"Tsume," Kakashi whispered, crouching next to the Inuzuka. She whimpered and looked up at him. "It's okay, the cat's gone."

She tilted her head back and breathed deeply, closing her eyes. "The cat's gone."

"Yes." Kakashi wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Ramen wandered into the room, barking happily. Kakashi sighed. He didn't know why he had picked the beagle when he went to get Kiba's dog; he should have known that if Tsume didn't pick him that Naruto would. Ramen was the loudest dog, fitting Naruto's personality perfectly.

Sakura stepped into the room, looked at her parents, and walked right back out. She had no need to know what was going on.

Tsume slowly calmed down, and Kakashi looked longingly back at the couch. He would give anything to be back sleeping…

"Come on," he said gently, pulling Tsume up and over to the couch. "Rest for a little while. I'll go talk to the kids and tell them why we can't keep a cat."

Tsume nodded and Kakashi left the room, following the sounds of Sakura and Kiba talking to the kitchen.

"Kids!" he called. There was an answering shout, and he walked into the kitchen to find Sasuke and Kiba wrestling over a plate of cookies. Kakashi rolled his eyes.

Sakura was standing by the fridge, sipping a glass of orange juice. She was staring at her brothers with an air of amusement.

"Sakura, where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked. The pink-haired girl looked up at him and shrugged.

"I don't know. He came through here not too long ago screaming about how cats were the devil…or something." She shrugged again.

Kakashi sighed and sat down at the kitchen table. He would just talk to Naruto when the blonde got back.

"Sasuke, Kiba," he said lazily. The two boys looked up and blinked upon seeing their father. "What are you two doing?"

"Uhh…" Kiba scrambled backwards, away from Sasuke. "He started it!"

"I didn't ask who started it. I asked what you two are doing."

"Dad, it wasn't me! Kiba came up and attacked me when I was eating a cookie, and I just used simple defense!" Sasuke defended himself.

"Whatever." Kakashi sighed before gesturing for all three of them to sit down at the table. "Okay, kids, I have to tell you something."

"You and Mom are finally getting married!" Sakura exclaimed. Kakashi glanced at her coolly.

"No."

"Why aren't you two together? You've been together since we were born. That's a long time." Kiba stated unnecessarily.

"You're right, Kiba." Sasuke mused. "Why aren't they together? That's the big question."

Naruto burst into the room, looking excited and scratched. "I heard you and Mom are getting married!"

"Oh my God, how did you hear that?" Kakashi muttered. Naruto shrugged.

"I just have really good hearing. But is it true?"

"No! Your mother and I are not getting married yet."

"Awww."

"Anyways, I came in here to tell you not to bring cats into the house." Kakashi said loudly. "Or anywhere near your mother, actually," he added.

"Why?" Naruto asked, pouting. He crossed his scratched and bleeding arms over his chest.

"Because Mom is deathly afraid of them and she might have a heart attack. We wouldn't want that, now would we?" Kakashi said.

"Oh."

"Plus," Kakashi added. "We have like, twelve dogs in this house. Dogs and cats do not mix."

"Okay." Naruto muttered.

"Also, Sasuke and Kiba, you're grounded." Kakashi said. The two boys looked up sharply.

"What? Why?"

"Because you two know that you're not supposed to have cookies before dinner."

Sasuke and Kiba glared at the floor.

/\/\

Itachi sighed as he entered his room. Slipping off his jacket, he dropped it on the bed and plopped down next to it. He stared at the wall, ignoring the curses from the room next to his as the boys yelled at each other before they went to bed.

It happened so often that Itachi had learned to tune them out.

Hana slipped into his room and smiled sadly at him. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You seemed kind of out of it at dinner."

"I'm fine," he said blankly. "Just thinking about my mission."

Hana sat down next to him, curling an arm around his shoulder. He almost pushed it off, before remembering that she was his best friend.

"Hana, I don't think I can do it." Itachi whispered, staring down at the floor. Slowly, the shouts from the boys quieted, until all he could hear were Kakashi and Tsume's voices talking directly below him in the living room.

"You don't have to do it," Hana murmured. Itachi dropped his head onto her shoulder. "You can go to the Hokage, get help from another land."

Itachi let her words sink in, and when they did he sniffled. He couldn't do it. He needed help, and he knew exactly the person.

But first, he cried against his best friend, and she held him exactly the way she held Sakura when her little sister had a nightmare.

A/N: Wow, lots of drama at the end there. Totally didn't mean for that to be there. Oh well. So, how do you like it so far? Tell me in a review, and I will forever be happy! …At least until I die. Then I can't be happy.


	12. Chapter 12

Naruto grinned as he watched Sasuke collapse on the couch tiredly, stretching his hand out for the remote. Sasuke groaned when he couldn't find it and closed his eyes, sighing heavily. He was not going to get up, no matter how much he wanted to watch TV.

Naruto stepped closer to the couch and stopped in front of his brother. This was payback for all the times Sasuke had insulted his height!

"Sasuke-kun!" Naruto screamed in front of Sasuke's face, and the raven lurched upward, cursing.

"What do you want, Naruto?" Sasuke exclaimed, reaching out for his brother. The blonde easily stepped aside and smirked.

"Payback."

"For what?"

"All the insults!"

"Oh my God, Naruto! I am going to kill you!"

Sasuke jumped up and ran at his brother, who yelped and sprinted outside. They ran past Kakashi, who blinked before shrugging and going inside. They would solve it themselves.

/\/\

"Kakashi," Tsume said hours later. Kakashi hummed, staring down at his book. "Where are Sasuke and Naruto?"

Kakashi froze, slowly glancing up at Tsume, who frowned at the guilt on his face.

"Uhh…" Kakashi stood up abruptly. "I'll go find them!"

He found them panting on the ground ten feet from the front door, bruised and dirty. But just because they were nearly unconscious did not mean that they couldn't still fight. With words.

"You idiot! How are you even passing?"

"How are you not teacher's pet?"

"Sakura is!"

"So what?"

"Boys!" Kakashi shouted, and the two kids looked up at him guiltily. "What is going on here?"

"Sasuke insulted my height, so I scared him and he attacked me!" Naruto exclaimed. Kakashi sighed and bent down, grabbing an arm from both of them.

"You are both grounded for the rest of the month," he decided. Naruto whined and Sasuke snarled.

"I'm already grounded, though!" he argued. "I still have like, half a week left!"

"So you can add half a week to your new two weeks."

"But that's not fair! Dad, it wasn't my fault! It was Naruto's!"

"It doesn't matter. You're both grounded."

Itachi wandered past them in the hallway and shook his head. He didn't even want to know.

/\/\

"I have made a decision." Hana said at dinner from her place next to Itachi. Tsume looked at her.

"What is your decision, Hana?" she asked.

"I am not a vegetarian anymore."

Kiba laughed. "I knew it! I knew you couldn't do it!"

"Shut up, Kiba." Hana growled.

"What changed your mind, neesan?" Naruto asked, and Kakashi sighed. Naruto was kind of weird like that, almost never saying Hana's name—it was always neesan.

Hana shrugged, smiling at her little brother—who never acted like Kiba. "I don't really know. I just…decided that I couldn't do it."

"Works for me!" Kiba said, grabbing the plate of chicken. He shoveled some onto his plate.

Sakura rolled her eyes and turned to her parents. "Mom, Dad, Ino's birthday is coming up. She invited me to her party. Can I go?"

"Yeah, sure." Kakashi said at the same time that Tsume said, "We'll think about it."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and turned to his girlfriend. "What?"

She shrugged. "It depends on what we're doing that weekend. How do you know we won't have anything going on that she can't miss?"

"I don't, but that doesn't mean she can't cancel if she has to."

"When is the party?" Tsume asked her daughter. Sakura thought for a moment, glancing over to the calendar on the wall.

"Uhh…September 22nd."

"See?" Tsume said, looking at Kakashi. "I almost told my cousin that we would be there for her son's birthday. But then I realized that Sasuke and Kiba were still grounded and they wouldn't be able to go, so I declined. She wouldn't have been able to go."

"But she can." Kakashi pointed out. "Thank your brothers, Sakura."

"Thank you, morons." Sakura said, rolling her eyes.

"That's not nice, Sakura." Tsume said, frowning. "Even if it is true."

Naruto sat upright and pouted. "Hey!"

"Anyways, you can go, Sakura." Tsume finally relented. Sakura smiled.

"Thanks, Mom, Dad!"

"Any time, kiddo," Kakashi said.

Naruto was still frowning from being called a moron by his own mother, but then he brightened. "Oh, hey, Mom, Dad, I forget to tell you something."

Tsume stiffened. Anything Naruto said usually involved her having to go down to the Academy to talk with Iruka Umino.

"What is it, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, oblivious to his girlfriend's inner fear.

"Iruka-sensei said he wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"I don't know. Something about me and Kiba, I think."

Tsume relaxed. If it had to do with Kiba, then it wasn't that bad. Kiba usually kept his brother in line.

"When?" she asked, picking up her fork again.

"Tomorrow after school."

Tsume choked on the sip of water she had just taken, and Kakashi patted her back until her coughs subsided. "Tomorrow?" she repeated hoarsely. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah."

"I can't go." Tsume said. "I have a mission, and I'm leaving at one."

Kakashi thought a moment. "Maybe we can talk to him when we drop the kids off, then. Or at his lunch break."

"Okay, I guess. I just hope it isn't important." Tsume muttered. She glared suspiciously at Naruto and Kiba, trying to figure out what they had done.

/\/\

The next morning Tsume and Kakashi left the kids in the yard with their friends and found Iruka in his classroom. He jumped when they knocked on the door.

"Sorry," Tsume said, stepping into the room. "I have a mission and wouldn't have been able to make the meeting after school. I hope this is okay."

"Oh, yes, this is fine. I really didn't care about the time, I just had a few things to talk to you about, and I felt that it would be best if we got it over with quickly." Iruka said, gesturing for them to sit down at a couple of desks in front of the board.

Once they had sat down, Iruka frowned out window. "You both know that the graduation exams are coming up," he started. Kakashi nodded, while Tsume glared down at the desk she was sitting at. God, she had hated her years at the Academy.

"We have been situating the Genin teams, and we realized that it would be nearly impossible for your children to not be on some team together."

"Okay," Kakashi said slowly. "What's the problem there?"

"Well, you, Kakashi-san, are also a Jonin sensei. That means that you would have your own children on your team." Iruka said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"So?"

"Kakashi, usually Jonin senseis don't have relatives on their Genin teams." Tsume explained. "Some think that they show favoritism towards their kin than the other students."

"So?"

"Don't you understand? You would be harassed because people would think that you were showing favoritism towards your kids if you pass them."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "You know who I am, right? Trust me, even if my kids are on my team if they don't meet my expectations they're going straight back to the Academy."

Tsume blinked. That's right. Kakashi had come home several times over the years complaining about how the Genin he was assigned to test didn't understand what he was trying to say and that they didn't understand what it meant to be a shinobi.

He had failed every single one of them.

"You would fail your own kids?" Iruka repeated blankly.

"Of course. If they don't show that they understand what it means to be a shinobi I'm not passing them. And I wouldn't be showing favoritism."

"Wouldn't they hate you afterwards, though?" Iruka wondered.

Kakashi shrugged. "Naruto would forgive me if I took him out for ramen. Sasuke wouldn't really care, I don't think, and Sakura would forgive me as long as I take her shopping with Ino."

"What about Kiba?" Tsume asked.

"If I help him train with Akamaru he'll forgive me almost as easily as Naruto."

"Okay, then. That was all." Iruka said. Kakashi smiled and stood up.

"Bye, Iruka-sensei!" he said, walking out the door. Tsume hurried to follow, waving over her shoulder at the shocked Chuunin.

A/N: Okay, so I forget to mention this a while back, but the kids are now ten. Which is a pretty big leap, but it sort of slipped my mind. So when Tsume got sick they were ten.


	13. Chapter 13

Tsume groaned as she rolled out of bed and onto her feet, stretching tiredly. Too lazy to actually get up and wake the kids, she shouted, "Kids! Wake up! Time for school!"

She didn't wait to see if they listened and instead pulled a sweatshirt over her torso and trudged down the stairs. She opened the fridge and grabbed the bags on the lowest shelf, dropping them on the counter for the kids to find.

Sasuke was the first one down, Kiba and Naruto following shortly after. "Hi Mom!" Naruto said loudly. Tsume smiled and gestured to the bags wordlessly.

She poured some coffee into a mug and sipped it, sighing. God, she had so many things to do.

"Mom, don't forget I'm going over to Ino's house after school." Sakura said, and Tsume nodded in her direction.

"Yeah, got it."

She waved as her kids left, finishing her coffee and dropping the mug in the sink. Kasumi pranced around her feet, and Tsume glanced at the dogs' food bowls. They were all empty.

"Daddy didn't feed you, huh?" she said quietly, and crouched down to pour the food in the bowls. Although the kids' dogs didn't really need it—they all went with their owners to school, and they would be sure to feed the dogs.

She stood up and walked back up the stairs. Might as well get dressed.

/\/\

Kakashi growled to himself as he searched for Hana among the crowd of new Genin. Where the heck was she? This was important!

"Dad!" Hana shouted, and Kakashi looked over, relieved to see her standing by the gate.

"Hana, I need your help," he said. Hana raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"I need you to keep your brothers in the house."

"Why?"

"I'm taking your mother out to dinner tonight. I don't want her worrying about them."

"Oh." Hana nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Thanks. Go find your brothers, take them home so they can celebrate safely, and remember that Sakura is at Ino's house." Kakashi called over his shoulder as he hurried away. Hana waved and smirked when he was gone.

It was about time he did this.

/\/\

"Kakashi, come on!" Tsume shouted up the stairs. "We're going to be late!"

"I'll meet you there!" Kakashi yelled back. "I'm almost ready, but you should go make sure we get a seat!"

"Fine." Tsume muttered and grabbed her purse off the table. What? Just because she was an Inuzuka didn't mean she didn't have _some_ pride in being a woman.

At the restaurant, the waitress led her to a table in the back of the room, illuminated by the dimly lit lamp hanging over her head. She shivered and forced herself to not look up.

Kakashi arrived ten minutes later, sliding into the booth across from hers guiltily. "Sorry," he said. "I got distracted."

Tsume rolled her eyes. Of course he was late. That was just how he was.

"So what's the occasion?" she asked. "We never go out."

"Can't I take my girlfriend out without getting accused of having something else going on?" Kakashi asked. Tsume shrugged.

"I guess."

"See? But isn't it occasion enough that all of our kids have graduated?" Kakashi grinned beneath his mask.

"That is cause for celebration." Tsume agreed. She sipped her water.

"Actually, I did have to ask you something," Kakashi said. Tsume cocked her head to the side.

"What is it?"

"Tsume, you don't have to answer right away. Think about it for a while if you have to." Kakashi slid over to her side of the table and took her hand. She looked at him warily. He pulled a little black box out of his pocket.

"Will you marry me?" He opened the box and she gasped. Inside was a silver ring with a blue diamond, two smaller white diamonds on either side. Kakashi looked at her worriedly.

"Yes! Yes, a million times yes!" Tsume exclaimed, ignoring the looks they were getting from the tables around them. Kakashi smiled, relieved, and slipped the ring on her finger. She hugged him tightly.

"You know," Kakashi said when they pulled apart. "The kids will be happy about this."

"I bet they will." Tsume agreed, and she leaned into her fiancé's side happily.

/\/\

At home, Hana greeted her parents with a grin on her face. The grin turned into a smirk when she saw the ring on her mother's finger. "So you finally asked, huh? 'Bout time."

"Go to bed, Hana." Kakashi said. Hana snorted.

"Dad, it's seven 'o clock. I'm not going to bed."

"Fine. Go find your brothers, then."

"No need. They're all in the living room, and Sakura came back home when Ino got sick." Hana said, walking away. Kakashi blinked. Okay then.

They followed her and smiled at the sight of all their kids excitedly playing with their dogs and telling one another about their first days as Genin.

"Hey, guys," Tsume said, and Naruto jumped up.

"Are you guys getting married?" he asked, blue eyes flicking from Kakashi to Tsume.

"Yes, Naruto, we are getting married." Kakashi said, and Naruto whooped.

"YES! I knew it! Kiba, you owe me some money." Naruto held out his hand towards his brother expectantly. Kiba sighed and dropped it in the blonde's hand.

"Why couldn't you have waited? It would have saved me some cash," he grumbled. Tsume shook her head, but she was smiling, and Kakashi wrapped his arms around her waist.

They decided not to ground Kiba and Naruto again.

/\/\

Hana walked behind her sensei as the older man lectured her about keeping her dogs away from civilians. She honestly wasn't paying attention anymore.

Itachi was waiting for her at Ichiraku's, and she said, "Yes, Sensei," and slyly slipped away to join her friend as her sensei ranted on obliviously.

"That should keep him going for a while," she chuckled. Itachi rolled his eyes.

"So have you talked to Dad yet?" Hana asked as she sat down and ordered a bowl of ramen. Itachi shook his head.

"I was going to ask last night, but he was so happy that Tsume said yes that I didn't want to ruin it with my problem."

"Well, you have to ask soon. Mom and Dad said they weren't going to start planning the wedding until us kids were more experienced ninja, and we had properly trained our dogs. Or something. Do it tonight at dinner," she suggested. Itachi sighed and sipped the water Teuchi had handed him.

"Fine."

A/N: YAY! They're getting married! Jeez, this chapter felt like it would never come. Thank you Nikki for helping me with the proposal! I really needed it. So, guys tell me what you think. And, I guess you could give me suggestions for the wedding. I'm not good with that sort of thing, and I could use all the help I can get. Please?

And if you want to see what Tsume's ring looks like, I'll put a link to it on my profile. I'll have a section there for the wedding stuff, and probably anything else that I think looks like things I described in my stories.


	14. Chapter 14

Itachi took in a deep breath as he raised his hand to knock on the door that used to be Kakashi's room, now his study. Not that he ever did anything in there, really, just filling out mission reports that he never turned in. Sometimes when Tsume went in there to clean she would find tall stacks of reports Kakashi was too lazy to turn in. Tsume would send several of her dogs to the mission office to turn them in.

Several times, Iruka had sent home a strongly worded letter to Kakashi with Kiba or Sasuke.

"Come in," Kakashi called. Itachi opened the door and glanced around quickly, noticing that there was one short stack of papers. Tsume must have cleaned recently.

"Itachi?" Kakashi blinked. "What are you here for?"

"Uhh…" Itachi swallowed. "I have to talk to you…"

"Well, obviously, or else you wouldn't be here."

"I have a problem."

"And what is that problem?"

"Danzo, uh, assigned me a mission…"

"Ooh, really?" Kakashi leaned forward in his seat. "Do tell!"

"Uhh…" Itachi fidgeted, clearly uncomfortable with this whole thing.

"Spit it our already, Itachi!" Kakashi exclaimed. Itachi held up hand, walked over to the door, poked his head out and screamed, "Hana! I need your help!"

Hana trudged out of her room and glared at her friend. "What do you want Itachi? I was sleeping!"

"I can't do this. I just can't." Itachi said. "Please let me leave!"

"Oh, hell no. You are doing this even if I have to tie you to a chair!" Hana marched forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him back into Kakashi's study. Kakashi raised his head from his book to stare at them.

"Hana," he said. "You know not to use that kind of language."

"Sorry, Daddy," Hana said, putting on a sickly sweet smile. "Slipped out."

She pushed Itachi in front of her, so that he was standing right in front of Kakashi.

"Didn't you have something to say to Dad, Itachi?" the Inuzuka nearly purred with glee. God, she loved torturing Itachi like this.

"No…" Itachi mumbled, trying to slip past Hana and back out the door. Maybe he should have gone to the Hokage…

"God, you are so stubborn! Dad, Itachi was assigned a mission by Danzo to kill the Uchiha clan." Hana said, smirking as Itachi turned to her and glared. Kakashi sat back in his chair and frowned.

"Really. Well, I guess you should go tell the Hokage then," he said, waving them away. "Now, shoo, I have work to do."

Hana sighed and dragged Itachi back out of the room, and into hers. She plopped down onto her bed, staring at Itachi.

"So that was useless." Itachi stated. Hana shrugged.

"I don't know. Dad is one of the best ninja there are. He probably wanted to say something else, but he didn't because Danzo needs to be punished by the Hokage."

"I guess…"

"Well, you should go to the Hokage then!" Hana said. Itachi stared at her for a moment then groaned and turned around. Might as well do what she said.

/\/\

Tsume opened the door to Kakashi's study and leaned against the door frame. Kakashi was so absorbed in his book he didn't even notice her until she coughed. He looked up guiltily and grinned.

"Hey, Tsume. How are you doing?"

"Whatever, Kakashi. Are you ready? We have to go meet my dad in ten minutes." Tsume said.

Kakashi nodded and stood up, slipping his book into his pocket. Just because he was talking to her dad today did not mean he didn't need his porn.

The kids were all waiting in the living room, except for Itachi. They were dressed in civilian clothes, as they were off duty. Plus they had Kakashi there, so there was no reason to even bring weapons. The man was sure to be able to make a weapon out of anything.

"You guys ready?" Kakashi asked, crouching down to pull in his shoes. Naruto cooed to Ramen in answer, and Sakura called for Coco. Kin had wanted to see how the kids' dogs were doing, and since they were training them to be their nin dogs, it made sense.

Akamaru had made his home on Kiba's head, and Rusty plodded along beside Sasuke as they left the house. Kakashi chuckled and picked up Kasumi as the little beagle trotted along side of them.

"Do you want to come with us?"He asked his dog. She barked and wagged her tail.

Kin was waiting for them in his front yard, his dog lying at his feet.

"Dad!" Tsume exclaimed, running forward to hug the older man. Kin chuckled, pulling his daughter close.

"Hey, honey," he said. The kids rushed forward and crowded around him, and Kakashi stood back as he watched his family. "Kakashi!"

Kakashi held back a cringe as Kin extended his arms, and he stepped forward when Tsume glared at him venomously.

"So, how have you all been doing?" Kin asked, fortunately stepping back from the embrace. Kakashi sighed and moved backwards to stand next to Rusty and Sasuke.

"Awesome!" Naruto said. "Grandpa, did you know that Iruka-sensei has never—"

Sakura and Kiba clamped their hands over his mouth. "Had a peach?" Sakura said too loudly. Kakashi raised an eyebrow and adjusted his mask. God, he hated wearing this thing now, especially now that he was with his family but had to be with Kin. He hated that man more than he hated the color green—and that was saying something.

Kiba nodded vigorously, and the look on Tsume's face told Kakashi that this conversation was not over.

"So what are we doing for dinner?" Tsume asked, herding the kids inside.

"Just ramen," Kin answered. Naruto whooped.

"YES!"

Kiba chuckled and slung an arm over his brother's shoulder. "You know, Naruto, someday ramen might be banned."

Naruto's eyes went wide, and he whimpered. "No! I won't let it happen!"

Kiba moved over to Sasuke and patted him on the back. "Don't worry, Sasu-chan, I'll make sure that you're protected from Naruto's rage when this happens."

Sasuke pushed him away and scowled. "Don't call me that."

Tsume smiled and shook her head. Kakashi wrapped his hands around her waist and she leaned back into him, watching as Sasuke and Kiba wrestled on the floor, with Naruto cheering his older brothers on, and Sakura and Hana conversing quietly on the couch.

"This is our family." Tsume whispered, tilting her head back to smile at her fiancé.

"This is our family." Kakashi repeated, resting his chin on top of her head.

A/N: Okay, so this will probably be the last chapter for a while. Possibly, because I might try to work on my other stories. But I'm gonna put up a poll on my profile, and if you want me to finish this story before my others vote!


	15. Chapter 15

Sasuke opened his eyes warily, feeling something in the air he did not like. He sat up in bed, glancing around quickly to see if there was someone in the room he shared with Kiba and Naruto. No one except him and Rusty.

The golden retriever whined and licked Sasuke's hand. Sasuke scratched behind his dog's ears. "You didn't see anyone, did you, boy?"

Rusty panted as an answer. Sasuke sighed and stood up, pulling a shirt over his head and changing his pants. He opened the door and Rusty wagged his tail and followed him out the door and down the stairs.

Rusty made a bee-line for his food bowl, wolfing down the dog food there. Sasuke yawned and reached for the cereal, vaguely wondering where everybody was. Shouldn't at least his mom be home? Or Hana?

He poured milk into his bowl, finding a spoon and sitting down at the table.

Rusty trotted over and laid his head on Sasuke's thigh. Sasuke pet his dog and finished his cereal, slurping up the milk and licking his lips to catch any remaining drops.

He stood and dropped his bowl into the sink, leaving it for someone else to clean later.

Sasuke trudged into the living room, getting really confused when he still didn't see anybody. Did he miss something? Did his parents have a mission or something?

He thought hard. Tomorrow was the day they would be assigned their Jonin senseis. Itachi and Hana had said they had something to do, Sakura had announced that she would be at Ino's house for the day. He didn't know where his parents or brother were, but as long as they weren't planning something he was fine.

He collapsed on the couch and reached for the TV remote. He flipped through the channels, finally settling on a news casting.

"Today, July 23rd, Konoha will be…"

Sasuke froze, eyes wide. No way. July 23rd could not be today.

He glanced over at the calendar on the wall, and with a start realized that July 23rd was _today_. _His_ _birthday_.

"Oh, crap," he muttered.

/\/\

Naruto grinned at Kiba as his older brother grabbed Sasuke's present from the shopkeeper. Kiba smirked.

"Sasu-chan's totally going to kill us, isn't he?"

Naruto laughed. "Of course he is."

/\/\

Kakashi frowned up at the sky as Tsume led him through the streets.

"Where are we going?" he asked. Tsume smirked.

"You'll see."

He sighed and glanced around as they walked up to Ichiraku's.

Tsume grinned at Teuchi, who smiled back and handed her a bag. "Here you go," he said.

Tsume nodded. "Thanks, Teuchi."

"No problem."

Kakashi raised a brow before following his fiancée back out into the street.

"What's in the bag?" he asked.

"You'll see."

/\/\

Sakura frowned as Ino tilted her head side to side, studying her earrings.

"You think this is too much?" the blonde inquired anxiously. She bit her lip and her blue eyes found Sakura's in the mirror.

Sakura groaned and grabbed a box of tissues. She stepped closer to her friend and started wiping away the excessive makeup on the Yamanaka's face.

"It's just a small gathering, Ino," Sakura sighed. "Sasuke won't even talk to you looking like this."

Ino looked down at her outfit consisting of a tight purple skirt and low-cut dark blue v-neck. "What's wrong with how I look?"

"You're trying too hard."

Sakura threw away the tissues and studied her friend again. Then she went over to the closet and hunted around for a moment.

"Here," she said, tossing a pair of shorts and a green cami to Ino. "Wear this and Sasuke won't absolutely hate you." She winked. "He might even like you."

Ino grinned and nearly skipped to the bathroom.

When the blonde reappeared, Sakura had cleaned up the mess littered around the room. Sakura smiled and said, "This is why you need me."

Ino's lips curled into a smirk and she cocked her head. "You are totally right, Sakura."

Sakura almost frowned—what had happened to the girl who was practically hyperventilating?—but she beamed and hugged her friend instead.

She couldn't wait to see her brother's face tonight.

/\/\

Sasuke had specifically said that he did not want to celebrate his birthday. He didn't want presents, and he absolutely loathed the idea of a party. But did anyone listen to him?

No.

The raven sighed and glared at the calendar. What he wouldn't give to change his birthday so that he didn't have one…

There was a knock at the door, and Sasuke stomped over to the door and threw it open. He snarled at the shocked face of Shikamaru. The Nara slyly slid a package behind his back.

"What?" the Hatake hissed (1), eyes narrowed dangerously.

Shikamaru's eyes darted behind Sasuke and back to his face. "I-uh, is Naruto here?"

"No."

"When is he going to be back?" Shikamaru was starting to get uncomfortable.

"Don't know."

"Do you know where he is?"

"If I knew that, don't you think I would tell you?"

"I honestly don't know. See you, Sasuke," Shikamaru said, backing away slowly. When he was halfway down the path, he added, "Happy birthday!"

Sasuke threw a kunai at him.

/\/\

Kiba narrowed his eyes against the sun and glanced around the street for the Naruto. Where had his brother gone?

The youngest Hatake was staring open-mouthed at a shop window—a candy shop to be exact. Kiba sighed and strode over to his younger brother, grabbing the blonde's arm.

"No," he said firmly. Naruto pouted.

"Why not?"

"Because you know what candy does to you," Kiba answered, whistling to Akamaru. The tiny dog bounded over with Ramen, who obediently licked Naruto's hand.

Kiba dragged Naruto away and into the cool air of a clothes shop.

"Come on," Kiba said. "Time to get new clothes for Sasuke."

/\/\

Sasuke was hiding in his room when his parents came home. He heard them talking about his party as they passed his room.

Rusty was sprawled out on his back on Sasuke's bed, and the raven was absently scratching the dog's stomach.

He was still there when his brothers came home, and he didn't so much as flinch when Tsume came to tell him that the first guests were there. He didn't even leave his room until his dad appeared and threw him over his shoulder.

"Dad!" Sasuke shouted. "I don't want to go!"

"Too bad," Kakashi said. "It's your party, you're going."

Sasuke frowned as Kakashi dropped him on the couch, and his scowl deepened as everyone shouted happy birthday at him.

Ino smiled at him from across the room, and Sasuke briefly admired the fact that she actually looked…nice. He actually wouldn't mind being seen with her in public looking like that.

Naruto plopped down next to him and Sasuke tore his gaze from Ino to stare at Naruto.

"You did this, didn't you?" he muttered. Naruto grinned.

"Kiba helped."

"I'm going to kill both of you."

"Good luck!" Naruto stood up."Happy birthday!"

Sasuke snorted as the blonde walked away.

His gaze caught Sakura frantically gesturing to Ino before pushing the blonde in his direction. She smiled shyly and took a seat next to him.

Maybe this party wouldn't be so bad after all.

A/N: (1): It took me forever, but I finally decided that Kakashi's kids would have his last name. (Kiba is not his kid technically, so he will have his mom's last name. Like usual.)

Ooh, Sasuke has a crush! I laugh at his pain. The next chapter will probably be the rest of the party, or I'll come up with something. Review?


	16. Chapter 16

Sasuke's almost good mood had vanished by the time he had to open presents. He glared suspiciously t Kiba and Naruto, who were grinning so wide it looked like their faces would split.

"Open ours first!" Naruto shouted, shoving a poorly wrapped gift into Sasuke's arms. The raven scowled and glanced at Kiba. His older brother gave a lopsided grin in return, and Sasuke was not reassured.

Sasuke carefully and slowly unwrapped the gift, bracing himself for an explosion that never came. He stared down at the objects in the small box with an expression of disbelief.

He gingerly picked up one of the hair bows and lifted it to eye level. "You got me," he said quietly. "Hair bows."

Kiba nodded. "Yep."

"I'm going to kill you!"

Sasuke lunged at his brothers, but Kakashi stepped forward and wrapped and arm around his waist, lifting him off the ground.

"Dad! Let me go!"

"No."

Tsume laid a hand on Kiba's shoulder and her son stiffened. Sakura grinned on the other side of the room.

"Why don't you three go outside and fight it out?" the Inuzuka suggested. Kiba and Naruto were gone within seconds and Sasuke soon followed when Kakashi let go of him.

Sakura pouted and slid down the wall to pull Coco into her lap. She _really_ wanted to see her brothers get into trouble.

/\/\

The next day, Tsume woke the kids up. Kakashi had already left to prepare for his new Genin team, and Tsume had to leave for a short mission that day. No one would be home all day.

Sakura yawned, tying her ninja headband. She glanced at her outfit again before leaving her room.

"Bye, Mom!" she called as she walked out the door, Coco at her heels. Tsume lifted a hand in goodbye.

Her brothers were still getting ready; she could see them through their window. She sighed and started walking; didn't want to be late for meeting her new sensei.

The Academy courtyard was filled with students and Genin waiting to learn who their sensei was. Sakura picked Coco up so she wouldn't get lost.

The pink-haired girl pushed her way through the crowd to get to Iruka's classroom. There were three other Genin besides her—Hinata, Choji and Shikamaru. She sat down in her usual seat, setting Coco in her lap.

Iruka glared at the dog. He had had several bad experiences with the boys and their dogs; he didn't trust Sakura and Coco anymore.

More kids filed into the room, and Ino sat down next to Sakura just as Iruka called for attention.

Sakura had seen Sasuke and Ino walk in together—she made a mental note to ask Ino about that—but no Kiba or Naruto. She rolled her eyes and scratched Coco behind the ears. Of course they would be late.

"Students," Iruka started. "You are now Genin. I will be assigning you your Jonin senseis. You—"

Kiba and Naruto burst into the room, Akamaru and Ramen in their arms. They were both panting, faces red from their run.

"Sorry, Iruka-sensei," they chorused. Iruka glared at them. They meekly sat down in the only two seats left.

"As I was saying," Iruka continued. Kiba and Naruto glanced at each other innocently. "I will send you to where your Jonin senseis will be meeting you. Now," Iruka plucked a piece of paper off of a stack on his desk.

"Shino Aburame, Choji Akimichi, and Hinata Hyuga," Iruka said. "You have Kurenai Yuhi. Sakura Hatake, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shikamaru Nara, Asuma Sarutobi. Finally, Naruto and Sasuke Hatake, Ino Yamanaka, Kakashi Hatake."

Iruka dropped the paper on his desk. "Team Kurenai, you will meet at the memorial stone. Team Asuma, you will meet at Ichiraku's Ramen. And Team Kakashi," Iruka stared at Sasuke and Naruto with hard brown eyes. "You will stay here to meet your sensei."

Sakura could tell that Iruka had to force himself to collect his stuff and leave the room. She couldn't blame him; she wouldn't want to leave her brothers alone with each other either.

She got up and set Coco down on the floor, marching over to Kiba and grabbing his arm. She pulled him out of his seat, walking out of the room with Coco and Akamaru at their feet.

/\/\

Kakashi was a half hour late. In that time, Naruto and Sasuke had managed to fight three times.

Naruto was sitting on a desk near the door, waiting for his dad. Sasuke was sitting next to Ino, who had finally separated them and distracted the raven by talking to him.

The door finally creaked open. Naruto leaped to his feet and pointed an accusing finger at his father.

"You're late!"

Kakashi blinked at the blonde before laughing. "I'm late because your mother decided to leave her bag at home. I had to bring it to her, and it took longer than I thought."

"You could have sent a note," Sasuke said.

"I sent Pakkun. Are you telling me he never got here?"

A tiny brown pug hopped into the classroom through the window, freezing at the sight of Kakashi.

"Oh, Kakashi," Pakkun said. "No need for that message now, huh?"

The dog jumped back out the window. Kakashi sighed.

"Oh, well." He turned back to his students. "We know each other. Now, Ino, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?"

Ino stared up at the much taller shinobi and said, "But you know me."

"Sure I do. Fine, don't share," Kakashi said. "Okay, we'll meet at training grounds 3 for your test."

"You're still testing us?" Naruto screeched.

"Of course. Just because you're my son doesn't mean that I can just automatically pass you."

Naruto pouted and scooped up Ramen. He stomped past his dad and out the door. Sasuke stared at Kakashi.

"Now you've made him mad," the raven muttered. Kakashi shrugged.

"He'll get over it when I buy him some ramen."

A/N: So there's the rest of his party. Next chapter will be Sakura and Kiba meeting Asuma and probably the kids telling Tsume about their day. Not sure yet. Anyways, please review? It makes me happy.


	17. Chapter 17

Sakura sighed as she glared at Kiba, who was trying to convince Shikamaru that dogs were better than cats. She didn't even understand half of what her brother was saying, and she knew that Shikamaru wasn't even listening. He was half-asleep.

"Sorry I'm late," a tall shinobi said, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he approached the three Genin. He smiled. "I'm Asuma Sarutobi."

"Hello, Sensei," Sakura said. Shikamaru cracked open an eye to stare up at the ninja then shrugged and closed them again. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"I assume you're Shikamaru," Asuma said, sitting down on a stool. Teuchi nodded to him and started preparing a bowl of ramen without being asked.

Shikamaru grunted but otherwise said nothing. Kiba leaned over Sakura to stare at Asuma.

"You smell like smoke," he stated bluntly. Asuma chuckled.

"Well, I do smoke."

"I don't like it." Kiba frowned and sat back on his stool. Sakura sighed again.

She was surrounded by idiots.

"Well, why don't we get to know each other a little bit?" Asuma said, taking the bowl Teuchi offered him. "You," he pointed to Sakura. "You start. Name, family, anything you would like to share."

"Uh, my name is Sakura Hatake, I am unfortunately related to that idiot over there," she gestured to Kiba. "And my dog, Coco, is one of my best friends."

"That's great." Asuma nodded. "I'll be sure to remember that. Shikamaru, you next."

Shikamaru groaned and sat up, propping his head on his palm. "Shikamaru Nara. I like sleeping. That's all you need to know."

"Okay, then…" Asuma shook his head as he tried to process that. "Kiba."

"Kiba Inuzuka, and my sister is a liar!" Kiba stood up and pointed to Sakura. "I am not an idiot!"

"Are you sure?" Sakura countered. "Because the last time I checked _Naruto_ got a better score on our last Academy test than you did."

"He did not! That test was fixed! It was not fair!"

"I don't think so," Sakura muttered. Shikamaru groaned again.

"Both of you shut up," he muttered.

"No!" they both shouted at him. Asuma sighed and tilted his head back to stare at the sky.

"God, please lend me your patience," he muttered under his breath. "I'm gonna need it for this group."

/\/\

Tsume had just trudged through the door with Kuromaru trailing behind when the sound of shouting filled her ears. She whined and dropped her bag on the ground, following the shouts to the backyard, where the kids where all screaming as they tried to train.

Kakashi was sitting on a nearby tree, alternating between reading and filling out his latest mission report. Every now and then he would glance down at the kids to make sure that they hadn't killed each other yet.

Tsume growled and marched to the tree, her hands on her hips. "Hey, Kakashi!"

Kakashi looked down at her. "Hello, Tsume."

"Are you deaf?" Tsume shouted up at him. "Can you not hear the fighting going on down here?"

"No, I can." Kakashi shook his head. "I just choose to ignore it."

Sakura had stopped her training to stare at her parents, cocking her head to the side. She grinned and turned to Sasuke, who was crouching in front of Rusty, trying to get dried mud out of the dog's fur.

"Hey, Sasuke," she whispered. "Want to see something cool?"

"I don't know," Sasuke answered, not looking up from his dog. "Kinda busy here, Sakura."

"Whatever."

Sakura sighed and strode over to her sister, who was standing next to her three dogs and smirking at her siblings.

"Hey, Hana, can you do something for me?"

Hana blinked at her and nodded. "Sure, what do you need?"

"Can you get Ino for me? I'm afraid to leave Naruto alone."

"Technically, he wouldn't be alone, but sure." Hana nodded. "I can do that."

She walked away. Sakura grinned, staring at Sasuke as her brother finally gave up on cleaning his dog. The raven shuddered and glanced at her, as if he knew what she was planning.

/\/\

That night at dinner, Ino was there. Sakura felt like she had accomplished something; her best friend was talking to Sasuke, and he was actually _smiling_. If she didn't know any better, she would say that the world was ending.

"How is your sensei, Sakura?" Tsume asked, taking a bite of her steak.

"Asuma-sensei likes to smoke," Kiba said. Kakashi glanced up.

"You have Asuma?"

"Yes," Sakura said. "He's actually pretty nice."

"I know he's nice." Kakashi frowned. "It's his sanity I'm worried about."

"Why?" Kiba asked.

"Because he has you two on his team."

Sakura snorted. "We're not that bad. Are we, Kiba?"

Kiba nodded in agreement. "We can be nice to each other when we want to."

"Exactly." Sakura nodded to herself. Kakashi shook his head and sighed.

"Fine, but when he snaps don't come crying to me," he muttered.

Naruto was glaring at his father from across the table. He had still not forgiven him. Tsume noticed.

"Naruto, what's wrong?"

"Dad is mean." Naruto pouted.

"What do you mean?"

"He's still testing us," Sasuke explained when Naruto didn't answer. Tsume laughed.

"That's it?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Kakashi said. "Hey, Naruto, wanna go out for some ramen tomorrow for dinner?"

"Heck yeah!" Naruto shouted, throwing a fist in the air. Kakashi smiled; Naruto was so forgiving.

Itachi was strangely quiet tonight—not that he was normally very talkative. Hana frowned at her friend and nudged him, tilting her head towards the front yard.

"Hey, Itachi," she said suddenly, getting up and dropping her plate in the sink. "Can you help me brush the Haimaru brothers?"

Itachi stared up at her for a second before nodding, setting his plate in the sink also. They walked outside where the rest of the family couldn't hear.

"Spill," Hana demanded by the tree she used to climb to escape Tsume's and Isamu's fights. Before Itachi could answer, a man striding towards the front door caught Hana's attention. She bit back a gasp.

"Dad," she breathed. Isamu turned his head to the side and saw her, breaking out into a grin.

"Hana, dear! How are you?"

A/N: Cliffhanger! I love cliffhangers…if I'm the one writing them. Haha. Anyways, I decided that I would do another reviewer request thing. So whoever is the 42nd reviewer—because I like the number—will be able to request a story. So review!


	18. Chapter 18

Hana didn't know what to do. They didn't teach this in the Academy. What do you do when your father—your mother's ex husband—arrives unexpectedly when your mother's new fiancé is eating dinner, and that same man also happens to be the man who helped raise you?

They should teach that in the Academy. It would have definitely helped her.

She grabbed Itachi's arm and whistled to the Three Haimaru Brothers, and then sprinted into the house, locking the door behind her.

"Mom!" she screamed. "Mom, he's back!"

Tsume poked her head out of the kitchen. "What do you mean, dear?"

Hana panted. "He's back. Mom, Dad is back."

Tsume blinked at her for several seconds before it sank in. She slid down against the wall and cradled her head in her hands, mumbling to herself.

Kakashi walked out of the kitchen and crouched next to Tsume. "Who is here?"

"Dad," Hana said urgently. "You have to get rid of him."

"Who?" Kakashi said again.

"Isamu," Tsume whispered. She stared up at Kakashi desperately. "Kakashi, you have to get rid of him."

"Why?"

"He's my ex-husband! You're my current fiancé!"

"Fine." He sighed and stood up, pulling his mask back up. He trudged to the door, where Isamu stood, hand raised, ready to knock.

"Who are you?" he asked suspiciously.

"Kakashi. Tsume's fiancé," Kakashi said happily. Isamu blinked.

"Excuse me?"

Hana groaned. Why did Kakashi have to say that?

Itachi was leaning against the wall in the corner. He studied the two men with amused dark eyes.

"You heard me," Kakashi said, leaning his hip against the door. He tilted his head to the side. "Why are you even here? You left Tsume eleven years ago."

Tsume had finally stood up. She was tired of Isamu's games. First he left when Hana was born, came back six years later, then Kiba was born and he left again. Now he was back?

"Isamu," she growled sweetly, a vicious smile on her face. "How are you doing, _darling_?"

Kakashi shivered, stepping to the side as Tsume took his place at the door, one hand on her hip. Isamu smiled.

"I've come back!"

"I can see that, Isamu. I am not stupid."

"Anyways, I figured that we could make up and everything would be okay again!"

"Hell no!" Kiba shouted, sliding along the wood floor from the kitchen. "Don't do it, Mom!"

Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura followed the young Inuzuka, standing behind Hana and Itachi as Kiba clutched his mother's arm.

"Trust me, honey," Tsume said, smirking. "I am not gonna let this man screw with me anymore."

Kiba stepped back, scowling at Isamu. The man was frowning, clearly trying to figure out why his children hated him. Hana pulled her brother back and wrapped a protective arm around his shoulders. She was not going to let her father mess with her little brother.

"Tsume, what are you talking about?" Isamu asked.

"You heard Kakashi," Tsume said, cocking her head to the side. Her eyes narrowed, and she whistled. Kuromaru snarled at Isamu as he stepped up next to her. "I'm done with you."

Isamu stepped back and glanced down at the massive dog worriedly, but then he smiled. "You wouldn't hurt me," he said confidently. "I'm your husband."

"_Ex_-husband," Tsume corrected. "You were the one to suggest the divorce, remember?"

Isamu stared at Tsume for a long time. "But…"

"No, Isamu. I am done with your crap. You had a chance. And you failed. Now it's about time you left," Tsume said firmly.

"But—"

"No!"

Isamu scowled and turned around, trudging away from the house. Tsume smirked and pointed at him. "Go, Kuromaru."

The dog leaped after the man, who screamed and ran. Tsume laughed.

"He won't be coming back for quite a while, if ever."

Kiba was shaking against Hana, the shock from finally meeting his biological father settling in. Hana tugged her brother into a hug, stroking his hair as he trembled. Tsume finally closed the door, turning to her family. She frowned when she saw Kiba, but Hana shook her head. She could handle it.

Hana led her brother up the stairs to her room, where they sat down on the bed. She waited while Kiba stared down at the comforter, curled up against his sister.

"Hana?" he asked quietly. She hummed. "What did you feel like when you first met Dad?"

She smiled sadly. "I felt happy. I had grown up without a father for the most part, and when I had one I overlooked the bad qualities in him. Then you were born, and he disappeared. I remembered what Mom would say every time I asked about him: He was a no good bastard who was never thinking about his family and only himself."

Hana sighed, tightening her grip on Kiba. "He never came back. For the first few months after he left, Mom was focused on you. Then Dad and Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto moved into our lives, and Mom was so much happier. I somehow convinced Mom that letting Itachi live here was a great idea."

She laughed. "He never moved out. He said it was because he didn't have the money. I never believed it, because he's an Uchiha. Anyways, we made plans to get Mom and Dad together. Turns out we didn't need to. They did it by themselves."

"So you got over Dad?"

"Of course I did! Because I had a real father with Dad, who promised me that he would never leave unless Mom wanted it. And so far he's kept that promise. Every time he goes on a dangerous mission, he has always found a way to survive and come back to us."

They sat in silence for a long time. When Kakashi came to check on them, Hana had fallen asleep. Kiba was still curled up next to her, not willing to leave his sister after everything that had happened today.

"Dad?"

Kakashi sat down on the bed by Kiba's feet. "Yeah, Kiba?"

"Why did Dad leave?"

Kakashi sighed. "Honestly, I don't know. Your father is weird."

Kiba smiled sadly. "You won't leave like he did, will you?"

"No, Kiba," Kakashi patted his leg. "I will never leave unless your mother wants me to. And even then I might try to find a way to stay."

Kiba yawned. "Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you," he mumbled, cuddling closer to Hana. Kakashi smiled.

"Love you, too."

/\/\

Tsume stared at the window. She couldn't believe he had actually come here. After eleven years, he had come back thinking that everything would be okay.

Kakashi walked in, leaning his hip against the door frame. Tsume could see his reflection in the glass.

"Hana and Kiba are asleep. I told Sakura to sleep in the boys' room for the night," he said softly. He walked over to Tsume and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Isamu really messed with them."

"Kakashi, I don't think I would be able to handle him coming back," she admitted quietly. She didn't look at her fiancé.

"Tsume, he's not going to come back."

"Kakashi, you don't know that!" Tsume said loudly. "He could come back at any time."

"Tsume, you have to calm down." Kakashi sighed. "I'm here. He won't come back as long as he knows I'm here."

"I know that, Kakashi," she whispered. "But what if you're on a mission? What if he comes back?"

"He won't. I promise."

They stood there for a while. Tsume finally sighed and tilted her head back to kiss Kakashi.

"We should start planning the wedding," she murmured. "That would definitely stop him."

"Okay."

"Great. Let's go to bed."

They trudged over to the bed, and they collapsed on it without changing. The only thing Kakashi did was take off his headband, dropping it on the floor next to the bed as he draped his arms over his fiancée's waist.

A/N: Next chapter! This might be the last chapter for a while. I'm gonna try to work on my other stories for a while. And please, send in ideas for their wedding! I already have a few ideas, but I will certainly take anything you give me into consideration! Please! Please, please, please!


	19. Chapter 19

Tsume huddled closer to her fiancé as Kakashi stretched his arm out and fumbled for the snooze button on the alarm clock. He yawned and pulled Tsume closer to him, closing his eyes tightly, trying to block out the brutal morning sun.

The door opened and Naruto stuck his head in. "Dad," he whispered loudly. Kakashi groaned. "Dad, we have our test today."

The silver-haired man raised his arm slightly, indicating that he had heard his son and would be up.

Naruto closed the door and Kakashi slipped back asleep.

/\/\

Hana woke up before Kiba. She separated herself from her brother carefully, slipping out of her room and going to Itachi's. She didn't knock, just pushed open the door and trudged in. Itachi was sitting on the bed, fully dressed and staring at the ground.

"Itachi, what did you want to tell me last night?" she asked quietly. Itachi looked up.

"Oh, just wanted to talk about my mission."

"Itachi, are you really going to go through with it?"

She sat down next to him. He sighed. "The Hokage said that I should pretend to do the mission and report to Danzo my 'progress', but I don't know if I can do that anymore. Danzo is getting suspicious. Any day now he's going to ask when I'm going to finish them, and I won't be able to tell him."

Hana stared at the wall. "The Hokage has to do something about it soon. You just have to hold out until then." She stood up. "I have to go wake Kiba up, then I have a mission. Talk to the Hokage again; he might do something about Danzo."

She walked out of his room and back to her own. She noticed that Sakura wasn't in her bed; either she was awake or had slept in Kiba's bed.

Kiba was sprawled out on her bed. He looked so peaceful she almost didn't want to wake him, but she knew that he had to meet his team today for their test. If he was late that wouldn't be good.

"Kiba," she said loudly, throwing a pair of shorts at his head. He groaned and sat up, tossing the shorts to the ground. "You have to meet your team today."

He groaned again and trudged out of the room, leaving her alone. She smiled.

/\/\

Naruto and Sasuke had been waiting at the training field for close to ten minutes before Ino showed up. She and Sasuke walked away a distance and sat down to talk; Naruto leaned against a tree and waited for Kakashi to show up.

After an hour had passed and Kakashi still hadn't appeared, Naruto had been sitting on the ground for so long his butt was asleep. He tilted his head back to stare at the leaves of the tree, muttering curses to himself.

By the time Kakashi finally walked up to them, Naruto was close to crying from lack of food. His father had said not to eat breakfast. Naruto was regretting following his directions.

"You are late!"

Naruto jumped up and glared at his father harshly. Kakashi laughed. "Sorry," he said. "Fell asleep again."

"I woke you up!"

"Didn't matter. Still feel asleep."

Sasuke sighed. Ino glanced at him, and he –almost—smiled at her. She smiled back and turned to Kakashi.

"What do we have to do for our test?" she asked.

"You have to find and rescue a little boy. His name is Kyle; he's from America and is from a very wealthy family. He was visiting and got lost, and it's your mission to find him and retrieve the bells he has. Work together and you'll be done in time for lunch."

Kakashi held up a plastic bag of Ichiraku's Ramen, and Naruto's stomach growled. He frowned at Kakashi angrily.

"Whoever doesn't get one of Kyle's bells will be without lunch, and you will go back to the Academy."

/\/\

Asuma sighed as his students—particularly Kiba and Sakura—fought over who would lead their team. Shikamaru slumped against a nearby tree and closed his eyes. Asuma couldn't tell if the Nara was asleep or not.

"Okay you two," Asuma said loudly, breaking the two siblings apart. "Shikamaru will lead the team. Your mission is to avoid any attacks from me and get to the river on the other side of the training field unscathed. You leave a teammate behind, you're automatically sent back to the Academy. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Sensei," they chorused.

"Good. Go," he said, and they sprinted away in the direction of the river, Sakura dragging Shikamaru behind her.

/\/\

Naruto whined as Sasuke tugged him through the forest, tripping over tree roots and uneven ground.

"Where is this kid anyway?" he groaned. Sasuke shot a glare at him, speeding up to fall in step with Ino. She glanced back at Naruto.

"Let me handle this," she said. "You two obviously can't use common sense."

She took a deep breath, then hollered, "KYLE!" as loud as she could. Naruto felt like his ears were bleeding.

There was a faint answering shout from the right, and Ino lead them to the boy by calling out to Kyle at random intervals. By the time they found Kyle Naruto had tugged his arm free from Sasuke's grip to cover his ears.

Kyle was huddling on the ground at the base of a tree, arms wrapped around his knees. He was staring at the forest floor, oblivious to their arrival. Ino slowly stepped forward to crouch in front of the little boy.

"Kyle," she said in English quietly, a huge difference from the ear-splitting shrieks from moments before. "Kyle, we're here to take you home."

Kyle looked up and blinked. "Oh, hi," he said. Naruto couldn't really understand what they were saying—he knew very little English, barely enough to know how to ask for the bathroom, but Ino seemed to be fluent in the language. He made a mental note to ask her about that later.

"Kyle, do you have any bells?" she asked. The little boy nodded, reaching into his pocket and pulling out two silver bells. Naruto blinked.

"Ino, there are only two there."

Sasuke snorted. "Thank you for pointing out the obvious."

Naruto glared at him. "Whatever,"

Ino stood up and helped Kyle to his feet. "We'll figure out something on the way back."

They trudged back to the training field, the conversation flipping back and forth from English—"I'm hungry"—to Japanese—"How do three people share two bells?"—and Naruto was getting a headache.

"Okay fine," Naruto muttered when they were within seeing distance of Kakashi. It was clear there was no solution to the bells. "I sacrifice myself to go without lunch."

Sasuke stared at him silently; Ino gaped at him with confusion and shock written all over her face. Kyle ran ahead at the sight of Kakashi, who must have been familiar to him. The tall shinobi bent down to say something to him, and Kyle sprinted away again, no doubt to his family.

Ino jingled the bells as they walked up to Kakashi. He smiled. "So you found the bells."

Naruto glared at him. "Yeah, we did," he muttered. "And now I get to starve."

Ino gladly traded the bells for the bag of ramen, glancing guiltily at Naruto. He sat down at by one of the poles and closed his eyes, willing himself to stay strong.

"You two may not share with Naruto," Kakashi said firmly. "I'll be back in fifteen minutes."

Sasuke and Ino started eating their ramen, and Naruto's stomach growled again. Sasuke sighed, stared around to make sure Kakashi wasn't watching, then moved closer to Naruto and offered his ramen to him. The blonde blinked at him.

"What are you doing, Sasuke?"

"I am offering you food, idiot." Sasuke shook his head. "Isn't that obvious?"

"But Dad said—"

"I don't care what Dad said. As much as I hate to admit it, I do not want to see my little brother's funeral at this time in my life."

Naruto smiled and took the ramen, slurping down half the contents before forcing himself to stop. Sasuke was staring off into space with a look, a look that he only had when he was hungry.

"Here, Sasuke," Naruto said, passing the ramen container back to his brother. "There's still half of it left."

Sasuke's dark gaze flickered between the ramen and Naruto before shaking his head. "No, Naruto, you eat it."

"But, Sasuke—"

"Sasuke, at least take some of mine," Ino interjected. She crawled closer to the raven and held out her ramen. "You need to eat something."

"Ino—"

"Sasuke." Ino's eyes flashed dangerously. "Eat the ramen."

Sasuke hesitantly took her ramen and ate some of it, gulping down the cold broth. It didn't taste as good cold, but at least it was something.

"Are you sure you don't want anymore?" he asked worriedly as he made himself stop long enough to look at Ino. She shook her head and smiled.

"No. I usually don't even eat ramen."

If this was a normal day, Naruto would have gasped and demanded they go to Ichiraku's so he could force ramen down Ino's throat, but the blonde was too hungry to object. Sasuke shrugged and slurped up the rest of the ramen.

There was clapping from behind them, and they twisted around to see Kakashi standing there with a smile. "Congratulations," he said. "You all passed."

A/N: I know I changed to test a little bit, but I figured that because it's my story anyways, I could do what I wanted. Besides, I still have the bells, don't I? Anyways, next chapter will be Asuma's team, and then we'll be focusing on Itachi, then the wedding. I honestly didn't expect this story to get this long so fast…chapter 20 already, guys! That's huge!


	20. Chapter 20

Sakura stared around her brother as Kiba walked in front of her. Shikamaru was lagging behind them, yawning occasionally. She listened for Asuma, breathing quietly.

"Wait," she said. Kiba glared back at her.

"Why?"

"Because I just heard something," she whispered, throwing out an arm as Shikamaru tried to walk past her.

"What was it?"

Sakura scowled at her brother. "Does it look like I know?"

"I don't know."

Kiba grinned and dropped to a crouch, petting Akamaru. Coco was sniffing behind a bush a few feet away.

"Hey, boy, can you smell what it is?"

Akamaru sniffed the air and barked. Kiba smirked. "Asuma-sensei is nearby," he said, standing up. Coco trotted over and sat next to Sakura's feet. The chocolate lab barked quietly.

"Be quiet." Sakura scooped Coco up into her arms and gestured for Kiba to do the same with Akamaru. "We'll try to sneak around him."

Kiba stared at her. "When did you become team leader?"

"When Shikamaru gave his leadership to me."

Kiba groaned and started forward, leaping into the trees silently. Sakura and Shikamaru followed.

/\/\

They were ten feet from the river when Asuma finally showed himself. Sakura dropped Coco and raised her arms in a defensive position.

"I'll hold him off!" she called to her brother and Shikamaru. "You two get to the river!"

Kiba looked like he was about to argue, but decided that he didn't want to deal with her anger and started towards the river again. Shikamaru sprinted after him.

Asuma chuckled. His hands clenched and unclenched. She glanced down at them briefly and wondered what kind of ninja he was. Genjutsu user? Taijutsu?

She heard Coco bark at her feet and stared down at the lab. The dog wagged her tail and slyly tilted her head to the side. Sakura smirked. This is why she was half Inuzuka.

"Hey, Asuma-sensei?" she said. He hummed, his dark eyes focused on lighting another cigarette. "How's Kurenai-sensei doing?"

Asuma choked on smoke and stared at her wide-eyed. "H-how do you know about that?"

Sakura nodded to Coco. "She's a ninja hound. You really didn't think about that? She's been trained to find your weakness."

Asuma's eyes flickered behind her, and Sakura could hear the sounds of Kiba celebrating as he reached the river. She smirked again, scooped up Coco, and before Asuma could even blink was sprinting towards the river. She was there before Asuma could react.

She dropped Coco to go play with Akamaru in the shallow water and hugged her brother. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her.

"We did it!" he shouted. Sakura laughed and turned back to Asuma, who had calmly walked forward.

"Okay, you made it. Your first mission will be two days from now. Meet at Ichiraku's at noon." Asuma sighed and replaced his cigarette. "Congratulations."

/\/\

Naruto whooped as he and Sasuke walked home with Kakashi. As promised, Kakashi was taking him to Ichiraku's. And they had passed. This was one of the best days of Naruto's life.

He didn't know how Sakura and Kiba's test had gone. He didn't know how Hana's mission was. He didn't even know where Itachi was, or his mother. But he didn't care about that right now. Because he passed!

By the time they left the ramen restaurant, Sasuke looked sick from all the ramen Naruto had eaten, and Kakashi was about ready to forbid Naruto from eating ramen ever again. That dinner had taken a lot out of his wallet.

"Hey, Dad," Naruto said suddenly. Sasuke coughed and leaned against his father. Kakashi wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Yeah, Naruto?"

"When are you and Mom getting married? We've all been trained with our dogs, and we've all passed."

"Your mother and I decided that we should start planning the wedding in a few days. With Isamu showing up like that yesterday, we thought that it would be best if we did everything in our power to keep him away from us."

Naruto smiled sleepily. He yawned as the bright lights of the Inuzuka house came into view. "I'm gonna go to bed."

He trudged up the stairs with Ramen when Kakashi pushed open the door. Sasuke groaned.

"Dad," he croaked. Kakashi glanced down at him worriedly.

"Yeah, Sasuke?"

"I don't feel good."

"Okay," Kakashi breathed. "Just hang in there. We'll get you up to bed and see what's wrong with you."

He helped his son up the stairs; Rusty followed curiously, panting with his tail wagging.

Kakashi dropped Sasuke on the bed and looked at Naruto, who had fallen onto his bed fully clothed and fallen asleep. He sighed and pulled the comforter over the blonde.

He turned back to Sasuke, who had collapsed on his side; Rusty curled up close to his chest. The golden retriever had his head resting on Sasuke's shoulder, whining low in his throat.

Kakashi crouched next to the bed, running his hand over the raven's forehead. His son's face was flushed, yet sill pale, and his forehead was hot. Darn; he might have a fever.

"Sasuke," he whispered. Sasuke whimpered. "I'll be back. Do you feel like you're going to throw up?"

Sasuke shook his head weakly. Kakashi straightened and walked back down the stairs, passing Sakura and Kiba. He pressed a finger to his lips.

"Don't wake Naruto up. And Sasuke is sick, so try not to bother him," he warned. They nodded and retreated to Sakura's room, closing the door quietly.

The silver-haired shinobi continued to the downstairs bathroom, where he hunted around until he found the thermometer. He poured a glass of water and went back upstairs.

Sasuke hadn't moved from his spot. Kakashi sighed and shook Sasuke gently, coaxing him into a sitting position. "Come on, Sasuke," he whispered. "I need to check your temperature."

Sasuke obediently opened his mouth and Kakashi stuck the thermometer under his tongue. Kakashi sat down on the edge of the bed and checked the thermometer when it beeped.

"Yep," he muttered. "You have a fever."

Darn it.

A/N: Okay, so this is hopefully the last chapter for a while. I really need to work on my other stories. Anyways, remember to send in reviews if you want that story! 42 reviews!


	21. Chapter 21

"Sasuke's sick, Tsume," Kakashi said before they went to sleep that night. Tsume glanced up sharply from her position in front of the mirror.

"We're talking about the same Sasuke here, right?"

"Yeah," Kakashi nodded. "He has a fever and his throat hurts. Really badly, apparently."

He smiled at the memory. He had asked Sasuke what exactly hurt, and the raven had promptly thrown a pillow at him, shouting hoarsely at him.

"Is he okay?"

"He should be." Kakashi shrugged. "I gave him some medicine, and he was sleeping the last time I checked on him."

"And when was that?"

Kakashi glanced at the clock. "About an hour ago."

"Do you have any idea what he has?" Tsume asked, snapping the bathroom light off. She shrugged off her vest and dropped it on the floor.

"Tsume, I'm a shinobi, not a doctor."

Tsume rolled her eyes and stared at the door worriedly. "I think I should go check on him."

"Tsume, he's fine," Kakashi said, staring at her from his perch on the bed. He smiled reassuringly at her.

"Kakashi, he never gets sick. This isn't normal."

She ignored his pleading look and went to the boys' room, crossing to Sasuke's bed. She wrinkled her nose. God, they really needed to clean their room.

She gazed down at Sasuke, who was still curled around Rusty. The dog cocked his head at her, and she bent to pat his head.

"Keep him safe," she whispered, and Rusty gave the dog-equivalent of a smile.

One time, when the kids were five—Naruto was actually four—she and Kakashi told them they were adopted. They took the news rather well, but the Uchiha's didn't. The Sharingan users had spent five years looking for Itachi and Sasuke, but they never found them.

But then they did, and there was a custody battle. Tsume and Kakashi could do nothing about Itachi—they technically weren't his parents—but they fought their hardest for Sasuke. And they did win, eventually. Because the Uchiha's may have had expensive lawyers, and biologically they should have gotten Sasuke in the first place, but they had forgotten one thing.

They were fighting against Kakashi Hatake and Tsume Inuzuka. And the couple had definitely earned their reputation fighting with each other against countless enemies—in combat and comrades.

And now the Uchiha's couldn't do a thing about it as they watched Kakashi and Tsume raise Sasuke to be an Inuzuka-Hatake and not an Uchiha.

Itachi, however weird it was at the time, had not gone with his family though. He had remained by Hana's side, ever the loyal best friend. He had seen his little brother grow up, and he had helped train all of the kids.

And now, as Tsume watched her sons sleep, she thanked whatever god that was looking out for them for sending Kakashi to her.

/\/\

Sasuke was sick for the next five days. Tsume had finally taken him to family doctor, her concern for the raven overruling her fiancé. The doctor had checked her son out, concluding that Sasuke had strep throat, and prescribed the medicine he needed.

That very same day, Tsume kicked Kakashi out of the house for being so ignorant to the fact that Sasuke had needed medical attention. The shinobi filled Sasuke's prescription and spent the day at Ichiraku's.

All in all, it was a very strange week. By the time Sasuke was better, Tsume's mother—who had vanished three years ago on a mission—had reappeared very abruptly once the news that her daughter was getting married to Kakashi Hatake was spread through the lands.

Kin, who was ecstatic his wife had finally come home, was submerging himself in wedding plans, oblivious to anything else in the world. Kakashi was actually contemplating killing the man just to save his already frayed sanity. When you have five kids, plus an Uchiha, plus an Inuzuka for a fiancée, added to eight dogs, your sanity loses a bit of itself.

And he also had Kin to deal with.

There were several things wrong with Tsume's father: one, he was way too hyper—and reminded Kakashi of Gai too much. Two, he took his job as a grandfather way too seriously. He literally lived five minutes away and he surprised the kids with a week-long stay at their house. Kakashi almost kicked the man out of his house after two hours.

Another thing was that he wore too much green. He could handle dark green, like the Chunin or Jonin vests, and the green in nature. But when you know a man like Gai, and then you meet Kin, there are going to be some consequences.

Kakashi could only handle so much.

And now, with Tsume glaring at him as he tried to get out of another day planning the wedding with Kin, he seriously considered eloping.

Not that Tsume would go along with it. But he could dream.

/\/\

Shikamaru sighed as clouds rolled through the sky. What he wouldn't give to be a cloud…

Shikaku stared at his son from the porch, his hip cocked against a post. He smiled softly, but his heart was hurting too badly for it to be a real smile.

The loss of his wife was still too fresh.

"Shikamaru," the Jonin Commander called. His son pushed himself up to his elbows, glancing once more at the clouds before getting up and joining his father. "What would you like for dinner?"

"Can we go out?" Shikamaru's voice was small and quiet, more like the child Shikaku knew years ago than the Genin who stood in front of him.

"Sure we can." Shikaku pulled in a shuddering breath and nodded, turning to go back into the house and grab his keys. He walked past the kitchen and tensed, the memory of Yoshino standing at the stove and making dinner too much for him to handle.

He twisted around and grabbed his son's arm, pulling him from the house and through the streets of Konoha to find someplace that didn't have any memories of the woman he had lost attached to it.

A/N: Okay, so I really didn't expect this to happen. I don't even know where it came from. But now I have to go back and change a few things, and then I'll probably start working on the next chapter—which will hopefully focus on Itachi more than Kakashi and Tsume's wedding (which we will get to eventually). Please review?


	22. Chapter 22

Tsume smiled at her mother. "Where have you been that last three years, Mom?"

Suzume smirked and twisted around to see outside the window. "You know that mission I went on? I got captured and went through hell keeping all of our secrets, but then they let me go. I had no idea where I was or how to get home, so I did a crap load of research and finally figured out what had happened to you." She smirked. "Kakashi finally grew some balls and asked, huh?"

"Mother!" Tsume said indignantly.

"Sorry," Suzume said, shrugging. "I'm an Inuzuka. It's in my genes."

"Yeah, I know," Tsume muttered. "I got that from you."

Suzume chuckled. "Too true."

Sakura wandered into the kitchen, reaching for the handle on the fridge door.

"Sakura," Tsume said. "Don't open that fridge. We're having dinner in an hour. I don't want you to spoil your appetite."

"Sure, Mom," Sakura sighed. She smiled at Suzume. "Hey, Grandma,"

Suzume shuddered. "Honey, please don't use that word. Makes me feel old."

Sakura blinked. "What am I supposed to call you then?"

"Anything but Grandma."

Sakura shook her head violently. "I am confused."

Tsume laughed. "Honey, everyone is confused. I still don't understand my mother, and she raised me."

Suzume rolled her eyes. Sakura slyly slipped out of the kitchen, trying to save her sanity from the Inuzuka women.

She hoped Hana didn't go crazy like that when she got older.

Or even worse, if she got that bad when she was older.

She cringed.

/\/\

Sasuke ignored his brother as Kiba planted himself firmly on the couch next to him.

"You know, little brother," the brunette said conversationally, snatching the remote out of Sasuke's limp hand. The raven grit his teeth; why did the Inuzuka always have to remind him Sasuke was younger than him? They were born sixteen days apart, for God's sake!

"What, Kiba?"

"Soon Mom and Dad will be married."

"What does that have to do anything? They practically _are_ married. They've been together since we were half a year old."

"But now it will be official." Kiba slid closer to his brother, leaning in close to Sasuke's face. "How does that make you feel?"

"I know how _you're_ making me feel," Sasuke replied, sliding off the couch to sit on the floor. "Like you're trying to murder me."

Kiba gasped, his hand flying to his chest. "I would never kill you, little brother!"

"Kiba, would you shut up?"

"No."

Sasuke sighed, standing up. He calmly whistled to Rusty, who bounded into the room panting. "Come on, boy." He scowled at Kiba. "Let's take a walk."

Kiba smirked as Sasuke marched from the room.

/\/\

Kakashi bit back a snarl, glaring at Kin. The man grinned, handing him a handful of papers.

"This is what you need to review for tonight," Kin said. "Go eat dinner with your family, now."

Kakashi nearly sprinted from the crazy man's house.

Suzume was just leaving the house when he got home. He waved, otherwise ignoring his future mother-in-law. She grinned at him.

He shook his head. How Tsume had turned out relatively normal after being raised by those two weirdos, he would never know.

He collapsed in a kitchen chair and dropped the papers on the table. Tsume smiled and set a glass of water in front of him; he yanked down his mask and gulped down the liquid until it was gone.

"I can't handle this," he groaned. She set a spoon aside and sat down next to him, stroking a hand down his arm.

"What's wrong, honey?"

"Your father is _killing_ me."

She laughed. He glared at her. "I'm serious!"

"Kakashi, I honestly doubt Dad is trying to kill you."

"Tsume, you haven't spent the last week with the guy planning a wedding." He tipped his head back with a whine. "I thought the women were supposed to be the ones getting excited over a wedding."

"Usually, yes," Tsume agreed. "But when are the Inuzuka's ever normal?"

"How did your parents even get together? They're complete opposites."

"Honestly?" Tsume sighed. "I have no idea. I think it had something to do with Dad complimenting Mom's hair, or something…"

"Kin's not a shinobi, right?"

"No." Tsume shook her head. "He's a civilian who just really likes dogs."

"And why do you have your mother's last name?"

"Because my mother scared my father a little bit, and so she kept her last name. When I was born she just asked that I have her name, and Dad was terrified that if he said no she would kill him."

Kakashi blinked and crossed his arms. He sighed. "Basically, your family is messed up."

"Hey!" she exclaimed. "Soon they're going to be your family too, so watch it."

He whined again. That's right; once they were married they would be his family.

"Wait a minute," He sat upright. "How many people are going to be at the wedding?"

"All of the Inuzuka's." Tsume stood and went back to preparing dinner. "Plus anyone you invite."

"How many Inuzuka's are there?"

She turned to him with a maniacal glint in her slit irises. "There are a lot of us, Kakashi. Plus our dogs."

"Oh my God, I'm going to die." Kakashi dropped his head into his arms. She laughed.

"Don't worry. I won't let them kill you."

/\/\

Itachi listened as the family went about their usual nightly business: fighting over who gets the bathroom first, snarling about who should let the dogs out before bed. The usual.

The Uchiha let out a breath and leaned against his headboard.

Maybe he should have just left Konoha. Or taken a mission that was sure to fail so he wouldn't have to deal with his life right now. Because his life sucked.

Hana opened the door quietly, slipping in with only a cami and pajama pants on. She must have won the battle for the bathroom.

"Itachi," she whispered. "Where were you at dinner?"

"Here," he replied.

"What were you doing up here?"

"Hiding."

"From who?"

"Everyone."

"Itachi, you have to solve this," Hana said firmly. She plopped down on the bed next to him. "You are way too young to be getting assassination missions. For your own clan."

"Hana, I am seventeen. You're only a year younger than I am. You know better than anyone how much is expected of me."

"I know, Itachi, but you can't kill your own clan." She sighed and stood up. "Talk to Dad again. Maybe now that he's not so focused on a pile of mission reports he'll help you."

"He's busy with the wedding."

"And this is more important. Itachi, they've been together for nearly twelve years. Marriage will just make it official."

She stalked to the door and threw it open. "Talk to him tomorrow, or I'll do it for you. I do not want to see my best friend destroyed by this."

He sighed as she shut the door behind her.

A/N: Okay, so I lied. I'm mostly focusing on the wedding and not Itachi. We'll get to him, though, I promise! I just don't know how the whole Uchiha thing is going to play out. We'll get there. Just not now.

Review?


	23. Chapter 23

Itachi sighed to himself, walking into the kitchen. Kakashi sat there, drinking a cup of coffee. The copy nin glanced up as the Uchiha sat down next to him.

"Kakashi-san," Itachi started. Kakashi held up a hand.

"Before you even finish that sentence, I would like to ask you one thing." He held up two color napkins. "Which one do you think is better, white or lilac?"

Itachi blinked several times, before sighing and saying, "Lilac."

"Thank you!" Kakashi scribbled something down on a paper, then added, "And you've lived in this house for more than eleven years. Drop the honorifics."

"Um, okay," Itachi shook his head. "Kakashi, what am I supposed to do about my mission?"

"The one where you have to kill your clan?"

"Yes."

"Talk to the Hokage."

"I did."

"And what did he say?"

"To play along and do nothing to stop it until he can find evidence that it's Danzo."

"Fine, that obviously didn't work." Kakashi studied a paper and said, "Would you like lemonade or pink lemonade better at the wedding?"

"Uh…regular?"

"Good choice. You can never go wrong with the original," Kakashi murmured as he added something to his paper. "Okay, I'll talk to the Hokage about your mission. I need to see him anyways about the wedding."

"Oh, okay." Itachi moved to stand, but the Kakashi's hand on his arm stopped him.

"What color should the tablecloths be?"

/\/\

Tsume giggled as Kakashi tried to figure out what food would be at their wedding. He groaned, throwing his hands in the air.

"I can't do this! Why are we even doing this extravagant of a wedding? We're simple people!"

Tsume draped her arms over his shoulders, leaning over his shoulder to see what he had. She arched an eyebrow. "Since when do you like turkey?"

"Since it was the only thing I could think of that people would actually _eat_."

"They would have to eat it unless they wanted to starve," Tsume pointed out.

"Whatever," Kakashi huffed. "Why am I the one doing this?"

"Because I'm an Inuzuka, and we don't do it this way."

"Can you at least _help_? It's your wedding too, you know."

She sighed, leaned forward and took the pen from him, then scribbled out a list of various foods. "There," she said. "Food is done. What's next?"

"Uh…"Kakashi checked his list. "Guests."

"Mmm, 'kay." Tsume snatched a new sheet of paper, wrote 'Guests' at the top, then proceeded to write a series of names, periodically checking a paper for something. By the time she was done, Kakashi had pulled her around to sit on his lap so she wasn't craning her neck to see the paper.

"Okay, there's the guest list. There should be a few extra spots at tables if they want to bring a friend," she said, leaning back against her fiancé's chest. "Is that it?"

"Well, no we still have to order everything and pick a date."

"Great! September 12th."

"Why?"

"Because it sounds like a great day to have a wedding."

Kakashi couldn't argue with that logic, writing the date down before frowning as he realized that was less than a month away.

"Tsume, how are we supposed to do all of this in a month? You still need a dress, and we need to get dress clothes for the kids."

"And we'll find time. Right now we need to get this to my parents so they won't kill you when you forget to give it to them," she said. Kakashi opened his mouth to counter that, then closed it and shook his head. That was actually true.

/\/\

Kiba grumbled as Naruto dragged him through the racks upon racks of clothes. He didn't understand why he needed a new tux – the one he had was perfectly fine! At least, the last time he wore it it was…

Sasuke was trailing along behind Kakashi, who was talking to an attendant while simultaneously searching the racks for something that would match the color scheme. Not that Kiba could see much difference, but he wasn't the expert here.

Sakura and Hana were with Tsume, searching for their dresses in another part of the store. Kiba found it amusing that civilians had different weddings than shinobi did, and so the bride had to hunt around for a long time before she found a dress.

A shinobi wedding was usually simpler than a civilian wedding was. Instead of a white dress with a long train, the bride would wear a dress that's color depended on the couple's decision, with minimum jewelry and makeup but enough weapons to make it obvious that she was a dangerous person to mess with. Plus it came in handy if they were suddenly attacked, along with the shorter dress.

The groom typically wore a black tux, with the colors matching the bride's dress. There would be weapons lining the pockets, easily accessible. The rest of the wedding party would be wearing matching colors, and depending on who they were they may or may not have weapons on their person.

Now of course, this type of wedding only applied when both the bride and groom were shinobi. When only one of them was, they would talk it over and agree on which one was best.

Kiba sighed as Kakashi studied another shade of purple, decided it was no good, and moved onto the next one. Honestly, why couldn't they have chosen blue or something? He didn't want to wear _purple_.

Kakashi straightened, looked side to side, walked away, then came back minutes later with a tie in hand. Instead of purple, like Kiba was expecting, it was a dark shade of blue.

"Holy…" Kiba whispered. "Did you read my mind or something?"

"Hmm?" Kakashi turned to him. "No, I didn't. But none of the purples were working. This was the next best thing."

Kiba sighed and leaned against the wall as Kakashi continued his search for a tux, leaving the three boys standing next to each other.

"Sasuke," Kiba said. The raven looked at him. "I miss Akamaru."

"And I miss Rusty. We will both survive."

Kiba pouted and turned away from his brother. "You're mean."

"Yeah, well, that happens when you're raised by an Inuzuka."

Kiba snorted. Yeah, whatever you say, Sasuke.

A/N: Hope that explanation of the different wedding was clear. I actually had a bit of trouble writing it, so if you have any questions, feel free to leave a review or PM me. I will answer them to the best of my ability.


	24. Chapter 24

Tsume sighed, shaking her head. This was getting nowhere. They hadn't found anything at all.

She lifted her head to stare over the racks of clothes, looking for her fiancé. Kakashi was too far over, though, and she couldn't see his gray hair. She sighed again.

"Sakura," she called. Her daughter emerged from the dressing room with a dark purple dress, and Tsume frowned. She cocked her head to the side.

"Yeah, Mom?"

"How do you like that dress?"

Sakura shrugged. "I like the style, but the purple's a bit too dark for me."

Tsume smirked. "Well, too bad! That's the dress I'm going with!"

Sakura sighed. Hana appeared behind her younger sister with the same dress, draping an arm over the pinkette's shoulders.

"Don't worry Sakura," she said. "We'll get through this together."

Sakura groaned.

/\/\

Sasuke frowned as he looked at himself in the mirror.

"I don't like this," he announced. Kakashi glanced over at him and lifted an eyebrow.

"Why, Sasuke? That looks great on you," he said.

Sasuke glared at him. "I don't care about the clothes. It's the store."

"Oh, well, that you have to live with. This is the only store in the entire village we can go to."

Kakashi stood up from where he was trying to figure out how to tie Naruto's dark blue tie. He stared at Sasuke. "Actually, I like that suit. Congratulations, Sasuke. You have found the _one_."

Sasuke shuddered and glanced down at his feet automatically, before remembering that dogs were not allowed in the store – even ninja dogs. Rusty was at home with the other dogs.

He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall.

/\/\

Itachi stood in front of the Hokage, twitching almost unnoticeably. Sarutobi sighed and leaned back in his chair, staring at the Uchiha.

"So, Itachi," he said slowly. Everything about the Hokage seemed slow today. "How are you?"

"Sir, I hate to interrupt you, but I was supposed to be with Kakashi and help put with the suit picking," Itachi said, gritting his teeth. He had a life, damn it! He was not some puppy the Hokage could call at his every need!

"I apologize, Itachi, but I thought you would like to know the improvement in your mission," Sarutobi said, cocking his head to the side. His Hokage hat tilted to the side precariously.

"Am I finally out of it?" Itachi asked hopefully.

"Um…No." The Hokage smiled. "But we're making improvement."

Itachi let out a breath and glared at the wall behind the old man. This was never going to end!

/\/\

By the time Itachi was finally able to leave Sarutobi's office, it was well past lunch and nearly dinner. He went straight home, hoping that maybe the family was still out and he would have a few moments of peace and quiet.

No such luck.

"Itachi!" Naruto called as soon as he got through the door. "Where have you been all day?"

"The Hokage's office," Itachi answered tiredly, pouring himself a cup of water. He gulped it down thirstily.

"What were you doing there?"

Itachi lifted his gaze to meet Kakashi's, and an understanding passed between them. "Oh, just talking about a mission."

"For five hours?" Naruto said, crossing his arms.

"Yes," Itachi said. "I had a few stops to make along the way." He held up a bag Naruto hadn't noticed before. "An apology for not being able to make it."

He extended the bag towards the blonde, and the Genin opened it. He grinned when he saw what was in it.

"Thank you, Itachi-niisan!" Naruto shouted, leaping forward to hug the teen. Itachi smiled and patted him on the back.

"You're welcome," he said. Naruto stepped back to stare into the bag at his wonderful ramen, practically salivating. Tsume frowned at him.

"Naruto, put that in the fridge," she said. "You are not letting your dinner go to waste."

Naruto pouted and deposited the bag in the fridge, sitting back down. He ate his food rather quietly, but then cheered up when he saw there was dessert.

"Yes! Cake!"

He dug into his piece with motivation Itachi hardly ever saw. The raven shook his head and accepted the cake Hana forced into his hands, turning to go to his room. His best friend frowned and followed him.

"What are you doing, Itachi?" she asked. "Everyone's downstairs having fun!"

"Hana, I can't do this anymore," he admitted. "I just can't."

The Inuzuka frowned. "What do you mean, Itachi? There isn't anything you can't do!"

"I just can't," he repeated, his gaze dropping to the ground. Tears pricked his eyes, and he angrily wiped them away. Hana sat down next to him on the bed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"Itachi, what are you talking about?" Her voice had dropped so that it was barely above a whisper. He shook his head.

"I don't want to talk about it," he muttered, his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach. He felt like he was going to be sick.

"Why don't you come back downstairs?"

"No." His voice was choked as he rasped the word, his eyes closed tightly.

Hana stilled as her friend's words finally broke through and made sense in her mind. "No, Itachi, you can't do it."

"Hana, I have to do it, or else I will never be free."

"Itachi, you're a shinobi! You'll always have missions that you won't want to do. That doesn't mean you can just leave."

"It's not about the mission."

Hana sucked in a breath. "They came, didn't they?"

"They talked to me yesterday. They're getting more daring."

"Itachi, talk to Dad! He can help you!"

"He's busy with the wedding. I don't even know if he talked to the Hokage like he promised. He has way too much on his plate right now. I don't want to add to it."

Hana's eyes softened. "At least stay till the wedding."

"I can't make any promises."

"Please?"

Itachi didn't answer and instead buried his face in his hands and let the tears he had been holding back for so long fall.

/\/\

Kakashi sat in his study, frowning at the last mission report he had. He couldn't even remember this one it had been so long ago.

Tsume set his coffee in front of him and sat on the corner of his desk. He looked up at her.

"Do you remember the mission where I nearly ripped my mask?" he asked. She frowned and shook her head.

"This is why you fill reports out immediately after you finish the mission," she said. He didn't answer. Tsume stared at his face, then said, "Kakashi, what are we going to do about Itachi? You heard as well as I did what he said."

"Tsume, I don't know." Kakashi sighed, turning away from the report he would never turn in. "That kid never thinks about himself. I did talk to the Hokage. He said that he was working on it as fast as he could."

"Sarutobi is sure to have figured something out before he leaves," Tsume said confidently. "Right?"

Kakashi pulled her into his lap and let out a breath. "He's the Hokage. He's sure to do something."

A/N: I'm having doubts as to how long this story will actually be. My God, my plan was to have this be 30 chapters, but with the way this is going it's probably going to be 50 before I even think of ending it. AGHH!

Anyways, if you have any ideas for couples (for the kids), I would be grateful. I've been trying to get those arranged, and it's harder than I thought with half of them siblings. AGHH!

Hmm… I don't know if I should ask for reviews or not…


	25. Chapter 25

Itachi didn't leave his room the next morning. He sat and stared at the wall, the seconds ticking away. He didn't move when Hana came to tell him breakfast was ready. He didn't flinch when Kakashi tried to coax him out. He didn't open his eyes when his door creaked open.

Sasuke stared at his older brother for a moment before crossing the short distance to the raven's bed. "Itachi," he whispered.

Itachi stiffened slightly, then relaxed. "Yes, Sasuke?"

"Can you come train with me?"

Itachi's eyes shot open and he glanced up at Sasuke. Onyx eyes gazed back at him, a slight smile on his younger brother's face.

"Please?" Sasuke added. The young raven didn't wait for an answer, pulling Itachi up and dragging him from his bed.

"Hey, hey, I'm still in my pajamas! And I need my—"Itachi tried to argue.

"No you don't," Sasuke glanced at his outfit. "And those are pajamas?"

Itachi rolled his eyes and allowed his brother to drag him from the room. But as they passed a family picture hanging on the wall in the hallway, memories nearly made him collapse.

_Sasuke was born in the dark of night. Itachi was scared to death, not fully understanding why his mother was in so much pain. His father paced the waiting room of the hospital, glancing at Itachi every now and then to make sure he was still there. _

"_Itachi," Fugaku said. Itachi stared up at his father. "You're going to stay here while I check on your mother. Alright?"_

_Itachi nodded and Minato and Kushina, his parents' best friends – no matter how much Fugaku would never admit it – slid over to sit next to him. _

"_Hey, Itachi," Kushina said kindly, smiling. Itachi cocked his head curiously. Minato smiled at him and pulled the young Uchiha into his lap. _

"_Guess what?" the blonde said softly. "When your parents come out of that hospital room, you'll have a little brother or sister."_

_Itachi sat up and stared at Minato, surprise etched into the lines of his face. Minato smiled again. _

_His parents had briefly explained that he would have a younger sibling. He still didn't fully understand, but he was only five. He had permission to not understand. _

_Hours later, Itachi had nearly fallen asleep in Minato's lap. His mother's screams had dwindled down to almost nonexistence, but now the sharp cry of a child pierced the air. Minato tightened his grip on the young Uchiha and smiled at him. _

"_Congratulations," he said, blue eyes sparkling. "You are now a big brother."_

_The tall blonde stood up with Itachi in his arms and stepped forward as Fugaku emerged from the hospital room. The brunette smiled tiredly at his friend and gestured for them to enter the room. _

_Itachi was surprised to see his mother perfectly fine, except for being a little sweaty and tired. From the sounds of her screeches he thought she was __**dying**__. Mikoto lifted her gaze from the small bundle in her arms to smile at Itachi. _

"_Hey, honey," she said quietly. Minato walked forward so Itachi could be closer to his mother, Kushina close behind him. _

"_Hi, Mommy," Itachi said. Mikoto shifted the bundle in her arms so that Itachi could see what it was. _

"_Meet your little brother, Itachi," she said. "Sasuke Uchiha."_

_Itachi was fascinated by his brother, poking the soft yellow blanket gently. Mikoto laughed softly. _

_That day Itachi promised to be the best older brother ever._

Now, twelve years later, Itachi snorted mentally. Some older brother he was. Instead of sticking with Sasuke like he should when Kakashi adopted him, Itachi ran away and lived in the forest for nearly two months.

Itachi stared at his brother sadly, shaking his head. He had failed as an older brother, and Sasuke didn't even know it as he led the Uchiha out of the house to the backyard.

"Hey, Itachi," Sasuke said. "Why do you always seem so sad?"

Itachi started. "I'm sorry?"

"You always seem to be sad," he explained. "Why?"

Itachi leaned against a tree and slid down to sit on the ground. "Sasuke, you know that we're brothers."

"Of course!" Sasuke blinked. "Mom and Dad told me years ago that I was adopted."

"Did they tell you why you were adopted?"

"Well…no."

"Why do you think Kakashi and Tsume adopted you?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I never really thought about it."

"Our parents were of the Uchiha clan," Itachi started, and Sasuke nodded. "They were highly respected ninja. The day Naruto was born, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox attacked Konoha. Our parents fought in the attack…and they were killed.

"I was only five at the time, almost six. Even though I was smart enough to take care of myself, I could not care for you, not even a year old, at the same time." Itachi pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his chin on his arms, staring at his brother. "When you were born, I promised myself that I would be there for you. When the Third Hokage found us alone, he took you and tried to get me, but I was too smart."

He sighed, his gaze sliding to the side to stare at the house. "I refused to be adopted; I was too proud to be an Uchiha. No matter what I tried, though, I could not get you. Kakashi adopted you, Naruto, and Sakura, and for a while I didn't see you.

"I lived in the woods on the Inuzuka property, and Hana kept me updated on everything, and kept me alive. It probably would have kept on going like that, except one day I was in the house and getting cleaned up. Tsume and Kakashi came home earlier than expected, and convinced me that it was better to stay in the house than the woods."

"And that," Itachi concluded. "Is the story of why you were adopted."

"But…" Sasuke stared at his brother. "That doesn't explain why you're so sad."

Itachi smiled sadly. "Yes it does, Sasuke. If you listened carefully, and thought real hard about it, the answer would come to you."

He stood up, looking down at Sasuke. "Didn't you want to do some training?"

In a daze, Sasuke whistled to Rusty as Itachi pulled his hair back in a pony tail to keep it out his face.

A/N: Did anyone else cry when Itachi died? I did, although it didn't really sink in until Sasuke knew the truth and he was crying…I think I cried the hardest over Jiraiya though…weird. Anyways, I was inspired to write another chapter when I saw the flashbacks and how much Itachi loved Sasuke…OMG I'm dying inside right now…

Please review…maybe I won't be so depressed over Itachi…


	26. Chapter 26

The day of the wedding. Kakashi paced his room, fiddling with his tie. Asuma glared at him from his perch on the table, his cigarette dangling from his lips.

"No smoking on my wedding day," Kakashi muttered. Asuma smirked.

"Too bad."

To say that he was nervous was an understatement. There weren't words for how nervous he was. Why did he do this again? He and Tsume were perfectly fine as a couple before he proposed!

Sasuke pushed open the door and Kakashi stared at his son for a long time, knowing what the raven was here for.

"It's time."

/\/\

Tsume took in a deep, shuddering breath. She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear, which she was immediately scolded for by her mother.

"Mom," Tsume said quietly. "I don't know if I can do this."

Suzume smiled softly at her daughter, shaking her head. "You know," she said. "I felt the same way with Kin."

Tsume's mouth dropped open. "You're kidding me," she muttered. "You?"

"Yep," Suzume nodded. "But you know what? I walked down that aisle, and look where I am now. I have a beautiful daughter, about to be married, with six grandchildren."

"Mom," Tsume blinked. "I only have five children."

"I'm counting Itachi."

"Oh."

Tsume forced herself to walk to the door. She could do this. All she had to do was walk down the aisle, and then say the words, and it would be official. They would be married.

If her mother could do it, so could she.

Sakura stared at her mother from across the room, scowling in her purple dress. She hated this color! Why did her parents hate her?

Hana led Sakura to the door, leaving before their mother. The brunette smiled reassuringly at her near-hyperventilating mother, then left the room with her younger sister.

Tsume smiled. She could do this.

/\/\

Itachi stood behind Kakashi, twitching in the tuxedo the gray-haired shinobi had forced him in. He hated dressing up.

The only reason he wasn't throwing a fit was because he was an Uchiha. Uchiha's did not throw temper tantrums.

Speaking of Uchiha's, Itachi could see some in the back of the crowd. So many people had shown up for the wedding, they had run out of chairs. Luckily half of them would be gone by the time of the reception.

Itachi sighed, tugging his collar away from his throat. He closed his eyes briefly, then let out a breath as Tsume started down the aisle.

He opened his eyes, and his dark gaze met Hana's lighter one across from him. She grinned at him, then turned to watch her mother.

Itachi stared at Tsume as she stopped next to Kakashi. Her dress was a very pale purple-blue, stopping just below her knees. There was nothing fancy about it; it was the kind of dress a woman might wear to a formal party, not a wedding gown. But for Tsume and Kakashi – they were both such simple people, even if they weren't shinobi they probably would have refused to get the wedding dress. This one ft Tsume's personality perfectly.

He tuned out slightly as the Hokage started the ceremony, speaking slowly and carefully. Itachi wondered if Sarutobi practiced in front of the mirror, but he forced that thought out of his mind.

He smiled as Kakashi leaned in to kiss Tsume, cleverly blocking his face from the crowd at the same time.

It was official.

/\/\

Sasuke stood next to Kiba stiffly, their dogs at their feet. They watched as their parents danced slowly, conversing quietly. Tsume laughed, leaning forward into Kakashi.

"Hey, Kiba," Sasuke said, cocking his head to the side. "Have you seen Ino?"

Kiba grinned slyly at his younger brother, nodding over to the drink table. "Last time I saw, she was over there."

Sasuke thanked him quietly and walked over to where he could now see Ino, her blue dress a sharp difference from all the purple in the room. What was up with his parents and purple?

"Hey, Ino," he said when he came up behind her. She jerked, a stream of soda dripping down the side of her cup. She lifted it to her mouth and licked it off, her eyes on Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke," she greeted. "Enjoying yourself?"

"I kinda have to, don't I?" Sasuke shrugged. "It's my parents' wedding."

Ino rolled her eyes and laughed, running a hand through her hair. It was down for once, and Sasuke personally liked it that way.

"Whatever you say, Sasuke," she muttered, taking a sip of her drink. "You keep believing that."

"I will, thank you very much," Sasuke nodded to himself as he grabbed a cup off the table next to them.

Tsume stumbled over to them, laughing quietly. She reached past Sasuke and grabbed a drink off the 'adult table' – Naruto's words, not Sasuke's. She downed it in two gulps, tossing the cup over to Kakashi, who caught it with the reflexes of a shinobi.

"Hey, Kakashi," Tsume giggled to herself. "What should we do for our honeymoon?"

Kakashi smiled under his mask, rolling his eye. "Tsume, we already have our honeymoon planned, remember?"

Tsume scrunched up her face in thought, then laughed. "Oh, yeah!"

Kakashi sighed. "I think you've had enough to drink, Tsume."

Tsume whined as her husband dragged her away from Sasuke and Ino. The raven shuddered as he realized what he had just witnessed.

"Oh my God," Ino muttered. "Sasuke, your mother's drunk."

"I think I realized that, Ino."

Ino laughed, tilting her head to the side. Then she winced and slipped her feet out of her shoes, scowling down at the 'evil contraptions' – Sakura's words, not his.

"Hey, Sasuke," Ino said suddenly, her blue eyes bright with mischief. "Catch me if you can!"

She ran off laughing, and Sasuke shook his head and smiled before sprinting after her.

/\/\

Sakura stared around the yard, yawning slightly. Hana grinned at her, brushing her dark hair out of her face.

"What's up, Sakura?"

"I'm tired," Sakura replied. She shook her head and blinked as she saw her mother being forced into a chair by Kakashi. She sighed. "I think I'm hallucinating."

Hana followed her gaze and laughed. "Unless we're seeing the same thing, you're not hallucinating."

The Inuzuka's eye caught something, and she grinned viciously. "Hey, Sakura," she said slowly.

"What, Hana?" Sakura muttered.

Hana smirked. "There's a guy over there looking at you."

Sakura's head jerked upwards, and she stared in surprise at the spandex-wearing boy gawking at her. She cocked her head.

"Except for the spandex…" she muttered. "He's kinda cute."

In a daze, she staggered over to the boy. Hana grinned behind her hand and jumped as hands wrapped around her waist. She tilted her head back to smile at Itachi. He forced a smile.

"Do you have to leave, Itachi?" she whispered, turning around in his arms. He nodded slowly.

"You know why," he murmured. She sighed and leaned forward to kiss him lightly.

"Then let's have one last night of fun," she breathed against his lips, then tore away from him with a grin and danced away from him. "Come get me!"

He smiled and raced after her.

A/N: YES! THE WEDDING IS DONE! Ah, relationships. I love them, I love messing with them, and I love controlling them. Love it. Anyways, I have a plan for this story. I think there's only going to five or six more chapters, then there'll be a sequel. It won't be up immediately, because I want to finish some of my other stories, but it will be up by the end of the summer, at the latest. Probably sooner if I work hard and everything. Well, you know the drill. Review and I be happy. Don't review and I be sad.


	27. Chapter 27

"You're sure you can handle being alone for the week?" Kakashi asked for the millionth time, a passed out Tsume cradled in his arms. The Inuzuka had changed before falling asleep, leaving Kakashi to carry her down the stairs to the yard.

Hana, still in her dress, sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yes, Dad," she said. "I'm sure we can handle this for the week."

"You're a hundred percent sure?" Kakashi repeated.

"Yes! I am sixteen, Dad! I can handle a week with my siblings!"

Kakashi shrugged. "Fine, but don't call us when you can't figure something out."

Hana waved happily as he walked away, then turned to her younger siblings and glared at the over-hyper Genin.

"I _swear_," she hissed. "If you so much as _think_ of behaving rudely, I _will_ hurt you."

Sakura shrugged and turned away from Hana, walking back into the house. Sasuke followed her, looking as dazed as Sakura was. Kiba stared at Hana for a long time, then grinned and almost skipped away.

"So," Itachi started. "Will you seriously hurt them?"

"Of course."

"Gotcha."

/\/\

Sakura blew out a frustrated breath as she stared at the TV. There was nothing to do with her parents gone! And Itachi had a mission, so he was gone. Plus, her brothers were all outside, beating each other up. They like to call it playing – Sakura knew better.

Hana entered the room, caught Sakura's gaze, and promptly left. The pinkette had been absolutely unbearable to be around the past few days, and without Itachi to help her, there was no way Hana was even going to think about confronting her sister.

Sakura stood up and grabbed the phone off the table. She squinted at her arm, barely able to make out the faded number there after three days. Then she pressed the number into the phone, checking her arm every now and then to make sure it was right.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Lee?"

/\/\

Naruto glared at his brother as Sasuke snickered at him. "What was that for, Sasuke?" Naruto shrieked, waving his arms in the air. He looked about ready to murder the raven.

"I felt like it."

Kiba leaped forward to restrain Naruto, even as he smiled at Sasuke and mouthed, "Good job."

Sasuke smirked and cocked his head to the side, dropping to one knee to scratch Rusty behind his ears. "Good boy," Sasuke praised the retriever, smiling happily as Naruto snarled.

"KIBA! LET ME GO!"

"Nope."

Naruto kicked and struggled to get out of his brother's hold, but was unable to get free of his freakish strength. When had Kiba gotten so strong?

Sasuke smirked and stepped back as a livid Hana marched out of the house, her dark hair loose from her recent shower. She stopped in front of the three brothers, hands on her hips, slit irises flashing as she glared at him.

"What did you do, Sasuke?" she growled. Sasuke put on an innocent look.

"I didn't do anything, nee-san! Why do you automatically think it was me?"

"Because Kiba is the one holding Naruto back."

"…Doesn't mean that it was my fault."

"Yeah. It sorta does."

"You're mean."

"I'm also in charge." Hana turned to Naruto, sending one last scowl at Sasuke, which clearly said, 'I am not done with you.' She plastered a smile on her face, staring at her youngest brother. "Naruto," she started gently. "Why don't you get cleaned up and Itachi and I will take you to Ichiraku's?"

Naruto relaxed in Kiba's arms, smiling softly. "Of course, nee-san, I can do that."

He slipped out of Kiba's hold and skipped away, mud clumping and falling from his clothes. Hana grimaced and sprinted after him, shouting about him needing to use a towel before he walked inside.

Sasuke sighed and leaned against a tree, looking at his older brother. "What do we do now?"

Kiba smirked, brushing the quickly drying mud off his clothes. "Wanna go bug Sakura?"

"Of course."

/\/\

Sakura twisted her comforter between her fingers, smiling as Lee went on about his training. The teen was so nice to her! Always considering her and not just himself…and they had only met three days ago!

"…and Gai-sensei says that we should be able to participate in this year's Chuunin exams!" Lee finished excitedly, and Sakura sat upright, eyebrows raised.

"Chuunin exams?" she repeated. "When are those?"

"Oh, a couple months from now," Lee answered breezily. "But isn't this exciting? I might be a Chuunin before the end of the year!"

"Oh, that is great, Lee," Sakura replied happily, falling back into her original position. "And—"

She was cut off as her brothers burst into her room, laughing loudly. She sat up again and glared at them, saying, "Sorry, Lee, I have to deal with my brothers. Wait a minute."

Her lips pressed together tightly, green eyes narrowing. Sasuke and Kiba ignored her fury, choosing instead to snicker repeatedly.

"Get out of my room!" Sakura barked, scaring the pants off of her brothers. They whimpered and scampered away, the door slamming shut behind them. She smiled and pressed the phone back to her ear.

"Sorry, Lee, my brothers interrupted me. Go on…"

/\/\

Hana handed her brother his pants and a shirt, having somehow convinced him not to wear orange. She honestly didn't even know how she had done it, but at least he wasn't standing out like he usually does.

"Come on, Hana!" Naruto tugged on her arm, while at the same time brushing a towel over his blonde hair. "I want ramen!"

"We have to wait for Itachi, Naruto," Hana chuckled. Nevertheless, she followed her brother out of his room, and she mentally made a note to remind them to clean their room. It desperately needed it.

"What do you need me for?" Itachi asked as he threw his ANBU vest and mask on the couch. Hana laughed.

"We need you to come with us to get ramen," she explained. He tilted his head to the side with a sigh, closing his eyes and nodding.

"Sure, just let me get changed."

He started past them to his room, and Naruto whined.

"No! I want my ramen!"

Itachi patted him on the head as he passed. "Don't worry, Naruto, I hold the record for changing fast."

Hana laughed again.

A/N: Okay, first of all, my computer (actually, it's my mom's laptop. Not the point…) is being VERY stupid. The internet won't work, so I have to copy ALL of my files on to the crappy family computer. This will be up as soon as I can get it...

Anyways, I realized some of you may be confused about how old everyone is. And I know it was a BIG time skip – I actually realized that I messed up. Sakura, Kiba, and Sasuke are thirteen now, not twelve…Sorry for that. I'll go back and change that anywhere I can find it…

But here are their ages in order from oldest to youngest…Naruto being the youngest. ;)

Tsume-35

Kakashi-29 (technically he's 30 now…they haven't celebrated his birthday yet…It's coming up though!)

Itachi-17 (or 18, I need to check my math…)

Hana- 16 (see Itachi)

Sakura-13

Kiba-13

Sasuke-13

Naruto-12 (poor Naruto…he's the youngest…)

Anyways, review?


	28. Chapter 28

Kakashi sighed as he stared at the house from the trees, his head tilted to the side. If only their honeymoon had lasted a little bit longer…

He turned to Tsume, grabbing her hand and walking forward. His wife was clearly distracted, about what he didn't know, but he figured it wasn't that important. Besides, they were home, so they had other things to worry about.

Like getting the boys to clean their room.

Hana smiled as her parents trudged to the door, and stepped aside as they walked past her. "The kids are in the living room," she informed them, and they sighed.

Kakashi pulled Tsume over to the living room, where the kids sat in various positions with their dogs, talking about something. Kakashi couldn't figure it out.

Naruto sprang up from his position on the floor, pointing at Sasuke and Kiba angrily.

"Mom!" he shouted. "Dad! Do you know the abuse I went through while you two were gone?"

He stumbled over to them, gripping Kakashi's arm desperately. "They tried to drown me in mud, Daddy," the blonde whimpered. Kakashi raised his gaze from his son to stare at Sasuke and Kiba, who grinned at each other with mischievous eyes.

"Is this true, Sasuke, Kiba?" the older shinobi asked, his sole eye narrowed. The raven smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. Kiba pulled Akamaru into his lap, stroking the dog's fur thoughtfully. Sakura snorted.

"Kiba, you look like one of those people who are always turning in swivel chairs and stroking their cats," she laughed. Kiba shot a glare at her, before turning back to Kakashi.

"No," he said very seriously, but Kakashi could tell that he was lying. There was way too much happy in his eyes for him _not_ to be lying.

Tsume gazed at Hana, raising a hand to her head. "God, I already have a headache," she muttered. Kiba smiled in her direction, but his eyes never left his father.

"Hana," Kakashi said. "What happened?"

"Kiba and Sasuke tried to drown in mud." Hana smirked at her brothers as they turned to her with shock plastered on their faces.

"Nee-san," Sasuke whined. "You promised you wouldn't say anything!"

"I promised no such thing," Hana stated, frowning. Sasuke shivered, gaze distant.

"Oh, yeah," he murmured. "That was a dream I had."

Hana stared at the raven for a long time, then shook her head. She didn't want to know.

Kakashi scowled as he finally dropped the bag slung over his shoulder. _This_ is what he comes home to after _one week_ with his new wife? He vowed never to leave his kids home alone again.

"Sasuke, Kiba, you're both grounded for a month."

"DAD!"

/\/\

Sakura whistled to Coco as her dog barked and sniffed at a trash can. The chocolate lab bounded over to her side, nuzzling her hand. She smiled.

Asuma smirked as his students wandered over to their meeting place. Kiba was bone-tired, having been unable to sleep as Naruto woke up with nightmares, screaming his lungs out _– twelve times in one night_.

Kiba didn't even know that was possible.

He yawned and dragged himself over to his sister, dropping his head onto her shoulder. She pushed him off and he fell to the ground with a whine, before promptly falling into a light doze. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"So, Asuma-sensei," the pinkette said. "Why were we called over here? We don't have a mission."

Shikamaru plopped down next to Kiba, curling up next to the brunette. Sakura snorted, rolling her eyes again. No matter how much the two would deny it, her brother and Shikamaru were best friends. With Choji, of course.

"I signed you three up for the Chuunin exams."

/\/\

"Really, Dad?" Naruto jumped to his feet, waving his arms in the air. "You signed us up for the Chuunin exams?"

Sasuke raised his arm to smack it into his brother's head, but a glare from Ino stopped him. That look clearly said that if he hit the blonde, Ino would not be happy, especially since he was still grounded.

"Yes, Naruto, I signed you three up."

"Kakashi-sensei," Ino said. "Are you sure we're ready?"

"Of course! But first," Kakashi pulled out a mission scroll from his pocket. "Who's ready for your first C-rank mission?"

/\/\

Itachi bowed to Danzo one last time, before biting back a whimper as he straightened. He could do this. He didn't know any of the Uchiha's personally. His parents were dead, so what did it matter?

Besides, if he didn't do it, they would send someone far more ruthless than him.

He left the room, his hand sliding back to grip the hilt of his blade. He could do this.

He repeated that phrase to himself as he walked to the Uchiha district.

/\/\

Hana was immediately suspicious when Itachi came home covered in blood. She was worried that he had done what she thought he had.

"You did it, didn't you?" she asked quietly as he moved to his room, and she followed him.

"Yes."

"Oh, Itachi," she sighed. She took a deep breath then opened her eyes. "No."

"No, what?" Itachi looked at her with Sharingan red eyes as he packed.

"You can't leave. I won't let you."

"You can't stop me, Hana."

He finished his packing, and he stood up. He strode over to her with a soft sigh, dried blood caked on his face and hands.

"You might never see me again."

"Don't go," she pleaded. Her voice was desperate, but she knew that it would do no good. He wouldn't listen to her.

"I have to." His eyes faded to black, and his voice was soft. He gripped her arm, warm hands leaving red on her tan skin. She stared down at where their skin met, then lifted her eyes to his.

She shook her head and threw herself into his embrace, not caring about the blood on him. Her shoulder shook, and she trembled as he stroked her back, holding her close.

"Please," she whispered one last time. He sighed softly, tightening his hold on her briefly before pulling away.

"I can't, Hana."

She sat down on the bed as he picked up his bag. She stared up at him with teary eyes, and he crossed the room to kiss her softly.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, before he was gone, leaving only the window open as he left.

She buried her head in her hands and sobbed as her best friend became the rogue ninja she had always feared he would become.

A/N: DO NOT WORRY! This is not the last of Itachi. There will be more. Anyways, there are probably only going to be two more chapters for this story. Then you'll have to wait for the sequel, which I promise to have up ASAP. I PROMISE!

Please review?


	29. Chapter 29

CHECK OUT BOTTOM AUTHOR'S NOTE!

Hana trudged down the stairs, sniffling and wiping her nose. She collapsed in a kitchen chair, staring at the table as her mother prepared dinner.

"Hey, Hana," Tsume said. She stirred the noodles. "How are you doing?"

"He's gone, Mom," Hana whispered, voice hoarse.

"Who are you talking about? And where's Itachi?"

"That's who's gone, Mom!" Hana cried, shaking her head forcefully. "He left."

Tsume dropped her knife and turned to her daughter, pulling the younger Inuzuka into her embrace.

"It's okay, Hana," she murmured, gazing at the wall as she held Hana. "It's okay."

She raised her voice. "Kakashi!"

Kakashi hurried into the room, taking in the scene with a grim silence. "He did it, didn't he?"

Tsume nodded as a fresh bout of tears overcame Hana. "It's okay, honey, we'll get him back."

Tsume nodded over to the stove, and Kakashi turned it off with a flick of his wrist. He stepped closer to the two Inuzuka's, but Tsume shook her head. "Go talk to the Hokage," she mouthed.

He turned and left the room quietly.

/\/\

"Kakashi?" Sarutobi said, blinking as Kakashi shoved the door open. The gray-haired ninja ignored Iruka as the brunette gaped at him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kakashi demanded. "Itachi left!"

Sarutobi blinked again. "Pardon?"

"He left, Hokage-sama! You didn't help him at all!"

Iruka tried to slip out of the room undetected, but Kakashi's hand whipped out and gripped his arm tightly.

"Sorry, sensei, but you're not leaving."

Iruka stared at him with wide eyes, momentarily forgetting that he could escape the Jonin's hold of he pulled hard enough.

"Kakashi, I can assure you—"

"You promised, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, his voice much quieter. "You broke that promise, and now it's up to me to fix it."

"What ever do you mean, Kakashi?" Sarutobi asked.

"I'm going after him."

"Kakashi, you can't do that!" Iruka burst out. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the teacher.

"I don't care if I have to become a rogue ninja. Itachi is like a son to me. I am not letting him leave the village."

Sarutobi watched the exchange gravely, fingers pressed together. "Kakashi," he said softly. "You have a week. If you are not back with Itachi by then, I am filing you and him both as missing-nin."

"Fine." Kakashi released Iruka's arm. "I don't care. I'm getting my son back."

He stalked out of the room.

/\/\

The entire house was in chaos. Naruto and Kiba were being restrained by Kin, both kicking their legs in the air in an effort to get free. Sasuke was sitting on the floor with a blank expression, with Ino hovering above him with a worried expression. Sakura was huddled close to a shaking Hana, green eyes wide.

Tsume was standing in the middle of it all, tears making damp tracks down her cheeks as she tried to regain order. Kakashi walked over to his wife and wrapped his arms around her.

"Everyone, listen up!" he shouted. His kids froze and stared at him wide-eyed. "I assume you have heard that Itachi has left."

A choked sob tore its way from Hana's throat. Kakashi forced himself to ignore it. "And this is true. He has left. And I'm going to get him back."

Tsume gaped at him, shaking her head. Naruto and Kiba fought even harder to get free of their grandfather's hold, and Sasuke tensed.

"Kakashi, you can't go," Tsume said. Kakashi stared at her sadly.

"I have to, Tsume. Don't you understand? He's our son."

Tsume squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head. She sucked in a breath, then let it out slowly. She didn't reply to his words.

"None of you are coming with me," Kakashi added as he saw Naruto open his mouth. The blonde frowned at him. "I have to do this by myself."

"I'm not letting you go alone." Tsume gripped his arm tightly. Her eyes were desperate. "Please, Kakashi."

Kakashi shook his head. "You know why, Tsume."

"I can't handle losing you too, Kakashi!"

Kakashi pulled Tsume close to him. His voice was soft when he spoke. "You know you won't lose me. I'm not Isamu."

"That doesn't matter!" Tsume wiped away angry tears with the back of her hand. "What is you get killed? What will I do then?"

Kakashi chuckled. "I won't die, Tsume. I'm me."

Tsume rolled her eyes with a tired laugh. She buried her head in his shoulder. "Promise to come back to me."

"I promise."

/\/\

Kakashi slung his bag over his shoulder as he tried to shake Naruto off his arm.

"You can't come with, Naruto," Kakashi sighed. The blond pouted and finally let go as Sakura reached for the collar of his jacket.

"You'll come back with him, right, Dad?" he said. Kakashi nodded and smiled.

"Of course."

Hana stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Please bring him back, Dad."

"I will, Hana."

He waved one last time before leaving the house and heading towards the gates of Konoha.

/\/\

Tsume growled as she threw punch after punch at her daughter, her anger making her training more deadly than it should have been. Kakashi had barely been gone five days and already she was going crazy.

Hana was just as bad as she was. With Itachi gone, there was no one her age around the house. She was becoming depressed, and nothing any of them did would bring her out of it. Training was the only thing she still did and showed emotion at.

Tsume dropped her hands. His week was already close to ending. There was no way he would be back in time. She wiped the sweat from her face and beckoned to Hana, stalking towards the house.

She was going after her husband. She didn't care what happened to her reputation. She didn't care what the Hokage said or did. She just wanted her family together again.

And she was damn well going to get her family back.

"Hana!" she barked. "Get your siblings! Pack for a long trip, but pack light. We're leaving."

Hana blinked, coming out of her depression from surprise. Then she scampered off to do what her mother had ordered.

"Kuromaru!" Tsume shouted. Her dog bounded up next to her. "Go to my mother. Tell her we're leaving."

The dog barked and sprinted away.

She marched up to her room, grabbing her pack off her bed. She had subconsciously known that she would have to do this, and she had been packed for days.

She was back downstairs when her kids came stumbling down. She smirked, and as her only explanation said, "We're going after your father. Be prepared for a hard trip."

The kids nodded eagerly and trailed behind her as she left the house, stopping briefly to call for their dogs.

/\/\

Kakashi panted as he leaned against a tree, closing his eyes tiredly. He had two days left to find Itachi and bring him home. If he didn't, he would be classified as a rogue ninja, and he wouldn't be able to go back to his family.

That would suck.

He pushed himself off the tree and forced himself to continue leaping from branch to branch.

He _would_ find Itachi. And he _would_ keep his promise to his family.

A/N: This is the last chapter! I apologize because it's a cliff hanger, but I needed to end it there. The first chapter of the sequel will be up as soon as I can. I promise! But I will finish most of my stories before that, so maybe at the end of school it will be up.

Review, please!

A/N2: I put up the sequel, True Love is Always There, so go read it! I'll have the second chapter up hopefully before I leave for Michigan.


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